Sorceress' Blood

by Carl Purcell

  “What are you watching?” Rebecca asked.

  “Don’t know.” Ashley responded bluntly. She didn’t seem to be enjoying the show so much as just watching it thoughtlessly, like the way some people bite their nails without realising.

  There was a knock at the door.

  “That must be the food.” Rebecca said. “That sure was quick.” She turned and started towards the door. Something caught her eye and she hesitated. A shadow was cast against the curtains. Whoever he was, he was awfully big for a delivery boy. Someone knocked on the door again. Rebecca felt a new emptiness in her stomach. A pit had formed and drained all the strength from her legs. Something in the back of her mind or in the depths of that pit was telling her not to take another step forward. Something inside her screamed for her to turn off the lights and pretend no one was there. But they’d already seen the lights. Who the hell was it? But as much as she wanted to think it was somebody else, somehow she knew exactly who it was and she knew what the Thralls outside her door wanted. Ashley turned off the TV and looked over at Rebecca, wondering why she wasn’t moving; why there was sweat glistening on the skin of her arm. Now that the TV was off, Rebecca could hear voices.

  “You sure this is the room?” she thought she heard.

  “Yeah.” This one was through the window. She could hear it better. “Room seventeen. Definitely her, too.”

  “I know it’s her. I spoke to her, got a good look right in her face.”

  “Then she probably knows and they took off.”

  “Their car is still there. Trust me, she’s in there.”

  “Then she must know.” Rebecca’s breathing had become shallow. Her stomach was doing cartwheels in the pit of her gut. Idiot! She cursed herself. The signs had been there and somehow she'd missed them! Now it was too late to escape. Idiot! They were only one cheap, flimsy window away. She had been feeling uneasy since her conversation with Edward Halford and that man had knocked on her window. It was the bald man with the long coat, just like the one sleeping in the restaurant, just like the one that had started all this. Everything was crystal clear now: They had caught up. She and Ashley had stopped running and now they’d caught up. Now they had nothing to protect them but a locked door and that single, fragile window.

  “Let’s just go through the window then.”

  “Don’t be an idiot.” Both voices were behind the door now. “Someone would hear the glass shatter and come look.”

  “Then what? This is taking too long. Look, get out of the way.” There was a scuffle. Then there was a loud snapping noise. Horror flooded Rebecca’s veins as the door knob fell onto the floor in front of the door.

  “What was that?” asked Ashley. Ashley! Protect Ashley. The thought didn’t come as a voice but as a flashing neon sign in the dark. There was nothing else but that command and when the door was opening, she acted without any thought at all. A primal instinct took over. She flung her whole body against the opening door, slamming it shut again, right on their faces. Protect Ashley! Rebecca glanced back at Ashley. She was backed up against one of the beds. Her feet tried to push her through it. She wasn't thinking. Her whole body quivered.

  Rebecca held herself against the door, keeping it closed. She needed to think of something. She couldn’t. There was a scuffle outside. Then, for a second, silence. Rebecca braced herself. No good. They hit the door hard. It swung open and crashed against the wall. Rebecca fell back on the ground. They entered. Rebecca tried to get up. A Thrall put his foot down on her ankle.

  “You get the girl,” he told the bleeding Thrall. “This time our sister won't get away.” The Thrall moved towards Ashley.

  “Get away from her!” Rebecca shouted. Her voice was shaky and weak with fear.

  “Shut up! You're coming with us now. Try anything and we'll kill you both.” The Thrall kicked her. Rebecca screamed. She gripped her ribs, where she had been kicked. She tried to roll off it. Her ankle surged with pain when she moved. She was pinned. On her side, she could feel something pressing into her hip. The gun. The realisation sparked to life that neon sign in her mind. Protect Ashley! Rebecca reached into her pocket. She drew her gun. Rebecca aimed at the Thrall standing over her.

  “Get back!” she shouted. Whatever confidence she may have felt was smothered beneath her fear. The Thrall laughed.

  “Don’t be an idiot. Are you going to shoot me? You don’t think someone would hear?” Rebecca held her weapon tight. She knew the Thrall was right. She didn’t care. She fired.

  “I’ve got your f—" The delivery boy stopped. His mouth hung open. The Thrall screamed. Rebecca fired again. The Thrall stumbled against the wall. Rebecca scrambled to her feet. She swung around and levelled her handgun at the other Thrall. She fired. It missed and put a hole in the wall. Ashley dropped to the ground, huddling in fright. The Thrall was confused. Everything had suddenly gone to hell. She fired. This time the bullet hit. The Thrall dropped. She fired. He wasn’t moving any more.

  “Get in the car.” Ashley ran from the room.

  Rebecca tucked the small gun into her pocket. She could feel its heat against her leg. She noticed the delivery boy for the first time. She took the plastic bag hanging loosely in his fingers. She waited a second, wondering how to explain what was going on.

  “Smells good,” she said and then ran to the car. Suddenly she was running again. Now they had somewhere to run to. As the fear began to subside, Rebecca felt the warmth of hope creeping up inside her. China. This time the word sounded good. The word sounded safe. The word was a long way away from dead Thralls in motel rooms.

  Rebecca and Ashley spent the night parked outside the Tamworth airport. The car smelt of spaghetti Bolognese and baked potato. It was a warm, friendly smell and it helped Ashley to relax. Ashley fell asleep easily with her head resting on her seatbelt. She had fallen asleep before they even reached the airport. Ashley found the movement of the car soothing. The passing street lights formed a hypnotic pattern. Light, dark, light, dark, light, dark. The radio played a sad song like a lullaby. She wasn’t awake for long once she’d finished eating. Peaceful sleep came easy to her in the comfortable protection of the car. It was her blanket and her shell. She was feeling safe and sound as only a child can when it’s warm and her loving parents were no further than a room away.

  Rebecca wasn’t feeling safe. Once she’d parked the car and eaten, she shifted quietly in her seat and tossed her head back and forth. She was wide awake, jumping at shadows and listening, dreading that she might hear sirens. There were none. Eventually she fell asleep. She woke up a couple of hours later. The sky was still dark but there were no stars hanging over the airport. She looked over at Ashley: She was still asleep. She closed her eyes and tried to get comfortable again. Rebecca slept, or at least thought she slept, for another hour. The clock read 6:22. Rebecca yawned and sat up. Everything was still and silent. Rebecca thought of turning on the radio but stopped herself, thinking it might wake Ashley. She sighed, somewhere between relief and a lingering fear.

  Ashley woke up a few hours later and stretched her arms over her head.

  “Where are we?”

  “The airport,” Rebecca told her and then went on to explain what they were going to do.

  “China?” Ashley asked when Rebecca was finished.

  “Yeah. It’ll probably be a long flight but we’ll be safe.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” Rebecca wasn’t sure at all. “Edward is related to Lord Sebastian. He’ll take care of us just like Lord Sebastian did. You can probably go back to learning magic.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll still be there to take care of you.”

  “Okay,” Ashley said. Then Rebecca saw, for the first time ever, Ashley smiled at her. “Let’s go to China.”

  Rebecca nodded. She became aware that she was still carrying the gun in her pocket and wondered how she’d manage to get past security with it. She spent some time looking through the car for a bag. Th
ere wasn’t one and she decided just to stash the gun and the motel room keys in the glove compartment. Once again she had only what she had in her pockets when they left Lord Sebastian’s castle – her wallet and her own mobile phone; the battery had gone flat by then. She took the phone she found in the car with her and put it in her pocket next to her own. Rebecca took Ashley by the hand and began walking through the parking lot to the airport entrance. She was starting to feel naked. She got the feeling that Thralls could show up anywhere and at any time and now she couldn’t fight them at all. She was at the mercy of whatever fate would throw at her from this point on. She walked into the airport and the cold, conditioned air washed over her. She hoped that they could get away safely. She just wanted to get on her plane without being stopped by any thralls or police or security guards.

  Rebecca went mechanically through the airport. She passed through security and boarded the small white private jet with clockwork precision. Ashley’s hand never left hers and she didn’t smile. Despite her inhuman behaviour, she was now on the plane waiting for it to take off and that’s all that mattered. Rebecca looked back on it from the comfort of her seat, hardly remembering how she'd got there from the parking lot. That wasn’t important though. They were safe.

  “I’ve never been on an aeroplane before.”

  “What?” Rebecca looked over at Ashley. She was staring out the window at the other planes taxiing around the airport.

  “I said I’ve never been on an aeroplane before. Have you?”

  “No.” Rebecca looked up and scanned the plane. There was no one else on board and she hadn’t seen or heard a peep from the pilot. The plane sat motionless.

  “Where are we going, again?”

  “China.”

  “Is it far?”

  “Yep.” Rebecca smiled. “All the way over the ocean.”

  “How long will it take to get there?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Where abouts in China will we live?”

  “I don’t know that, either.” Rebecca said, feeling a little stupid.

  “We’ll be safe there?”

  “I’m sure we will.” Rebecca said with a smile. But she didn’t know; that was the problem. She turned to look at the little girl. She had n idea what was going to happen. Ashley was still gazing out the window. Oh God, she hoped this is the end of it. The plane jerked forward suddenly. Ashley’s skin went pale.

  “Is the plane meant to do that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know much, do you?”

  “No.” Rebecca replied. “Ashley, I don’t know what’s going to happen. But this plane is going to take us away from the people who are chasing us and I’m sure we can trust Lord Sebastian’s family. I don’t know what we’ll do once we get to China. We just have to hope that Edward has planned everything for us. And if he hasn't…” Rebecca paused to collect her thoughts. At least that was the idea but the truth was she didn’t have any thoughts. She had never before had to take care of anyone other than herself and she never had to look after kids. She had never worked as a babysitter and she didn’t even have a little brother or sister that she had to look out for. Rebecca tried to give Ashley some kind of honest, comforting answer but she didn’t even have answers. All she had were more worries, more fears and more questions of her own that she still couldn't answer. “If he doesn’t, I’ll take care of us. Don’t worry.” And that was all she had. Even though she was struggling to get by on her own in her own country, and the thought of being stranded in another country where no one would understand her appalled her, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything that might make the little girl as frightened as she was. Somehow, that gave her confidence. She didn’t have a clue what she was doing, but having Ashley there gave her something more than survival to struggle for. Something inside Rebecca drove her to take care of Ashley – even though she was a complete stranger a week ago and even though she didn’t know her last name or even how old she was, Rebecca knew she had to take care of her and nothing would get in the way of that.

  Ashley was quiet. She’d stopped looking out the window and now she was looking at Rebecca. The two stared silently into each other’s eyes.

  “Alright,” Ashley said with innocent, childish simplicity and looked out the window. Rebecca sighed and let her head rest on the seat. The plane was moving now. Finally the pilot’s voice came over the speakers letting the only two passengers know that they were taking off.

  Rebecca and Ashley passed the hours by talking, reading magazines and looking out the window. At some point in the flight, they’d lost complete track of local time, Rebecca got up and walked up and down the aisle. Passing by a seat, she spied a pack of playing cards tucked into the pouch on the back of it.

  “Want to play cards?” Rebecca asked as she took her seat.

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Well there’s lots of ways to play cards. I’ll teach you.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll teach you to play Go Fish.” Rebecca named the first child-friendly card game that came to mind. It wasn’t until after she’d said it that she realised she didn’t know how to play Go Fish.

  “How do you play?” Ashley asked.

  “Well. First I shuffle the cards like this so they’re all mixed up.” Rebecca felt a familiar feeling, the same feeling she’d had when she was trying to tell Ashley a story – the feeling of having no idea at all. “Then I deal out the cards like this. We both get two cards to start with.” Rebecca dealt the cards and set down the deck, then turned the top card face up and placed it down beside the deck. “Now what we do is try to get cards with numbers that add up to twenty-one. Can you do that?” Ashley nodded as she looked intently at her cards, counting the numbers one by one in her head. “We take it in turns drawing cards until we have a number close to twenty-one. But if you draw a card and it takes you over twenty-one, you lose. When we’re both done drawing, we compare our cards and the one with the highest number wins.”

  “What’s that card for?” Ashley pointed to the one Rebecca set face up.

  “That one is another imaginary player called the dealer. We have to beat it as well.”

  “Why is there an imaginary player?”

  “I’m not sure. But there is.” Ashley looked at Rebecca the way you look at a crazy woman talking in tongues. “You’ll understand once we start playing.”

  “What about this card?” Ashley showed Rebecca a king.

  “Oh that one is called a king. That counts as ten.”

  “Okay.” Ashley went quiet and counted in her head. “So I have eleven! Now what?”

  “Eleven?” Realisation dawned on Rebecca. “What’s your other card?” She asked. Ashley showed her the ace she was holding.

  “This one.”

  “That’s called an ace. If you have an ace and a card with a picture on it like your king then you get to say ‘Go Fish’ and you win.”

  “So that’s why it’s called Go Fish?” Ashley put down both her cards, face up.

  “Right. That ace card is worth either one or eleven. Whichever you like. So your ace and your king is worth twenty-one. That means you win this hand.”

  “Can we play again?” Ashley’s lip curled slightly into a smile for a second. Just as quickly it was gone again. Rebecca noticed it though, and instantly that contagious smile spread to her. Rebecca had only seen Ashley smile a few times. They were still small, few and rare but they were smiles, alright. A brief sign of happiness. Neither of them knew what was coming but right now they were out of reach of the world. They were drifting easily through clear blue skies with no trouble in sight. Somewhere off in the distance were new dangers and the threat of the unknown but for now everything was okay. They were just two girls playing cards.

  Rebecca dealt again. She walked Ashley through the steps. This time they got further and Ashley learned how to get cards if she didn’t start with twenty-one. Then she won again. Ashley won twice more
, despite not really understanding the game. When she finally lost, it was because she went bust after drawing another card when she had eighteen. Then she won another game. Rebecca was amazed by the little girl’s luck and it crossed her mind that Ashley may be magically altering the cards. But more likely, she was just lucky.

  “When you’re eighteen I have to take you to a casino. We’ll be rich by the end of the night,” Rebecca said offhand as she dealt the cards again. Ashley smiled. It was a hopeful smile. The biggest she'd smiled, yet. Rebecca didn't see it.

  Eventually they got hungry and Rebecca began rummaging through shelves and cabinets at the front of the plane. She found some pre-packaged sandwiches and chocolate bars. The chocolate was old and the sandwiches were stale but they still came as no less a relief.

  By the end of dinner, the sky outside their window was dark. Ashley yawned and settled down to sleep while Rebecca flicked through a magazine to pass the time until sleep found her. The magazine was ancient, full of gossip that had been news months ago. Between pages she glanced over at Ashley, just to make sure she was still there. Sitting there, seeing Ashley like that, Rebecca's mind began to wander. She began to think of things she hadn't thought about in a long time. They were things she never thought of willingly and now those tragic memories were forcing their way to the surface. How many years had it been? Not a decade yet but almost. Rebecca closed her eyes, forcing the tears back. In the splotchy darkness behind her eye-lids, images began to form. She could still smell the overwhelming smell of garlic and fresh lasagne. She was in the last year of her apprenticeship and she had worked her way to the top. She was Riccardo's star pupil, following him from the little Italian restaurant on Mary Street - what was it called? - to that big, fancy coastal resort. Life was good. She was happy. She was an idiot.

  The smell of garlic began to fade. Now, in her mind, in the deepest pit where she had tried to banish those regrettable memories, she could hear Riccardo's voice the first time he asked her if she had put on weight. She had put on weight. She was putting on weight fast,, the weight of his child growing. Rebecca was sure it would be okay. She couldn't imagine a stupider optimism now but back then, way back then, she was one happy little idiot. Yet, at the same time, she was afraid. She didn't know how to tell him and each awkward attempt to bring it up ended disastrously. Then, before she knew it, she had waited too long. She couldn't hide it and even if she had known what was to come, she couldn't end it.