by Martha Woods
It became a game of music chairs as they waited for the witches to arrive. With so many people, there didn’t seem to be enough places for people to sit. If you stood up, someone was going to slide in your spot right away. Calla and Jared were rooted to their spots on a loveseat in the den, Veronica, Morgan, Kristian, and Tessa sitting around them. Thankfully, all of the others were leaving them alone. Although lively chatter filled the rest of the house, the den was dead silent.
They were all weighed down by the realization it could all be their last night together, each of them in a newly blossomed relationship. The couples that roamed around the rest of the house had long since come to terms with the thought of death. Calla hadn’t in the slightest. Before Deidre came into her life, Calla didn’t really have any drama at all. She planned to live to be one of the elders, old and wrinkly with an herb garden to grow the ingredients for her potions. Probably own a lot of cats, too. But now, it was as though she lived on the cusp of death. Part of her had hoped she would be used to the fear by then, but Calla hadn’t even begun to come to terms with the notion of death.
Then, out of seemingly nowhere, Tessa burst into tears. All eyes were on her as Kristian held her close to his chest and rubbed her back. “Tessa, baby, what is wrong?” Kristian purred to her. That was the first time Calla had ever heard him use a pet name for her.
Tessa sobbed uncontrollably. Even if she wanted to speak, Tessa wouldn’t have been able to. Calla stood from her place and paced over to Tessa. Sitting on the arm of the couch, Calla drew symbols into Tessa’s shoulder blade with the tip of her finger, muttering a spell under her breath. It was a mood altering spell, Calla being able to influence Tessa’s aura. Of course, Calla sent her positive vibes and feelings of peace and happiness.
Within moments, Tessa’s crying began to ease. At least enough for her to talk. “This is all my fault,” she cried, her voice still muffled from her facing being buried in Kristian’s chest. “If it wasn’t for me, none of this would be happening. Calla wouldn’t have had to get the blood drained out of her, the Firehaven witches wouldn’t be coming to risk their lives for me, and neither would any of you.”
“Calm down,” Kristian breathed to her. “Veronica and I, and many of the others, have been on the run from the Calder long before you were even born, Tessa. We would be fighting them in some form or other. Honestly, it may be fate or something at play. This battle may have needed to happen, and us have help from the Firehavens. The Calder are evil, vicious creatures and need to be stopped.”
“I’m half Calder,” Tessa informed him. Calla mentally groaned, momentarily wishing she would have never told Tessa. She feared word would get out and the Firehavens would turn against her as well, despite it being against their own best interest.
Kristian’s eyes bugged for a moment before his face fell flat again, “That doesn’t mean a thing. You aren’t cruel like them. You don’t go around killing innocent people and spreading evil.”
“I don’t want people to die because of me,” Tessa clarified, her voice showing her distress even though her tears were coming to a halt with the help of Calla’s spell.
Kristian pushed her shoulders back and then lifted her chin to look her square in the eye, “Everyone here knows exactly what they came here to do, and the risks it involved. Even if they despised you, which they don’t, they wouldn’t want you dying at the hands of the Calder. Them obtaining your power would be bad for everyone. Understand? Just because some prophecy predicted it to happen, doesn’t mean that it will. You know how I know?”
“How?” Tessa asked, her lips in a pout and her eyes glossy.
“It didn’t say anything about me, and I’ll be damned before I live to see them hurt you.”
Calla had to actually keep herself from awing aloud. That was the sweetest thing Calla had ever heard. She watched with glistening eyes as Kristian and Tessa embraced, Tessa finally calming down from her hysteria. Slowly, Tessa lifted her head from Kristian and peered around to the others, “Do you all really feel that way?”
“Of course,” Veronica replied.
“Without a doubt,” Jared commented.
Calla nodded in agreement.
Tessa sat up on her own and wiped her face with her sleeve, “I’m sorry to have caused such a scene… It’s just so much to process.”
“No one is upset with you, kiddo,” Morgan called over. “None of us can imagine what you’re going through.”
Tessa smiled weakly at him and nodded.
Then, not even a minute later, Calla could feel her sister’s presence. Calla stood up, “My clan is here,” she announced.
Jared was in front of her then, helping her to her feet. Calla was still weak from the blood loss, but she was recovering pretty well considering the circumstances. He helped her through the house, the others close behind. As they stepped outside, Calla’s heart pounded in her ears. After the last talk with her sister, Calla didn’t even want to see her clan. Calla knew that Flora would be the one to be the most upset, but she had also expected her to be the fastest to forgive. Flora couldn’t even say she loved Calla anymore. It was probably a good thing Jared was having to help her outside; Calla would have just hidden away if she didn’t.
A gray mini-van pulled up to the house, parking with the other cars that littered the front yard. The group of vampires stood on the porch, waiting for the witches to make their way over to them. As the women moved around the cars, Calla’s eyes immediately landed on her sister. Flora was a year older than Calla, but looked almost identical to her. Her sister was just a couple inches taller, a bit thinner, her nose was a bit bigger, and her hair was a reddish brown instead of fiery auburn like Calla’s.
A dozen Firehaven witches came onto the porch, Flora staring Calla down but didn’t utter a word.
“Good morning,” Abigail, one of the other witches, spoke. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Tessa. We all knew your mother very well and absolutely adored her.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Tessa smiled weakly.
“We managed to sneak away from the Calder about an hour ago. I suspect they’ll be here right at 6 a.m.,” Abigail told Tessa.
“Thank you,” Tessa nodded at her. “I really appreciate you all being willing to help.”
“Of course. We would never want the Calder to hurt one of our own,” Gretchen, another witch, called to her.
All of them started to move into the house. Flora was the last one to remain standing still in the group of witches, her eyes never faltering from Calla’s. As soon as Flora turned to follow the others, Calla let out a pained breath. None of the other witches had even looked at her, and Flora didn’t speak to her at all. It was as though Calla no longer existed to the clan.
“They’ll come around one day,” Jared breathed to her, heading to the door with her.
“I hope you’re right,” Calla sighed.
* * *
Everything was falling right into place. Just before sunrise, everyone but Kristian, Tessa, the demon Charley, and two vampires, were hidden in the meadow behind the house. They laid on their bellies, the tops of their heads hidden by the tall grass and flowers. Every vampire waited with a flask of Calla’s blood, instructed to drink the entire container just as the sun began to peak beyond the horizon. Calla had put the thought-blocking spell on Tessa just before heading outside, and she prayed that it lasted through the fight.
The group of vampires and witches were laid out like a true army. Witches, which were fragile but had a long-ranged attack were in the very back, furthest from the house. The largest and strongest vampires were in the front, ready to block and take the most damage. The fastest ones came right after, followed by the regular warriors. Calla’s mind jumped from worrying about the spell on Tessa lasting, to obsessing over Jared’s safety. He was in the center of the front line, in the most vulnerable spot in the entire field. Jared swore to her that he would be fine, he knew what he was doing. And yet Calla found herself unable to believe
those words. Her gut was telling her he was going to wind up extremely hurt being there.
Being so far away from him didn’t help at all. Even though she swore to never read his thoughts again, Calla really couldn’t stop herself from tuning in. Just hearing his inner voice soothed her nerves. He was thinking warm thoughts of Calla, using the idea of her to keep his mind from worrying over the battle. He was confident in his abilities, which didn’t surprise Calla at all, but he did worry over Calla’s safety.
Keep her safe, Lord. No matter what happens to me, just keep her safe, Jared thought. Calla immediately blocked his thoughts once again, not wanting to read into too personal of territory. Even to her, listening to someone’s prayers crossed a line. The smile didn’t fade from her lips, though. He was praying for her safety. Kristian’s sweet moment from earlier was instantly topped by Jared’s thoughts. She was starting to wonder if maybe something was going to come of their relationship.
Those thoughts really helped her not focus on the feeling of impending doom. She managed to stay in her own little world until she noticed the sky start to brighten. Peaking her head out a bit, she could spot a few elbows poking out of the grass as the vampires all tipped back their flasks of Calla’s blood. It was a strange sight, especially for Calla. She laid her head back down, not wanting to be spotted by any approaching Calder.
A few minutes later, Calla could feel a sudden influx of tension in the air. The Calder were near by, she could sense them. She laid perfectly still until she heard a clash of screeching and hissing. Jumping to her feet, she witnessed hell already unraveling around her. The first two waves of vampires had charged the Calder witches, managing to instantly kill several of them as the witches swarmed around the farmhouse. The Calder all started to charge into the backyard, taking on the group of vampires and Firehavens head on.
Calla began to launch fire at incoming Calder, striking down at least one she could see. Soon, they were having to back up, there being more Calder than they had originally anticipated. There had to be at least sixty witches in their pack. She launched fire attacks as rapidly and as skillfully as she could. Because Calla was weak, her flames were as well, but that didn’t keep her from trying.
As she dodged an attack, Calla caught sight of Jared out of the corner of her eye. A Calder witch was tackling him to the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs in his face. Moving in a panic, Calla rushed toward him, striking the witch with multiple attacks. The witch’s attention was on Calla then, racing toward her. Her eyes moved back to see the other one that had just attacked Calla, aimed for as well. Panic set in, locking her knees as she couldn’t decide what to do. With the force of a moving car, Nolan tackled Calla to the ground to get her out of the way of the incoming enemies. With her hidden in the tall grass, Nolan attacked the two creatures. Calla watched, frozen in fear, as Nolan masterfully fought them. It was like he could see their next moves before they ever made them. Jared was right, Nolan was an amazing warrior.
A cold hand grabbed hers and pulled her to her feet. Calla found Jared’s pale blue eyes peering down at her, “Are you alright?” he asked, concern oozing in his tone.
“I’m fine,” Calla assured him.
There was a scream next to them, their heads snappping to the side to see Nolan pinned by one of the horrible hags. Jared didn’t waste a second, jumping into action and hurling the witch off of Nolan. Then, the two moved in unison, fetching the witch, holding her down, and ripping her head from her body with one pull.
Calla had to tear her eyes away before she allowed herself to be ambushed again. Refocusing her attention, Calla hurried over to the nearest Calder witch and launched fire at them. The heavy morning dew had only protected the grass and plants for a short time before the fire began to burn them away. Smoke filled the meadow like a fog.
The vampires used the cover of fog and their unmatchable speeds to their advantage to sneak up on the witches. The firehaven witches began forming small groups with the remaining vampires, using their firebending abilities to help overpower the Calder. Calla was with Nolan, Jared, and Flora as they surrounded three witches. She sidestepped a blast of fire that one of the Calder cast at her, putting her right next to Nolan. The witch let out a horrible shriek before charging at them. Calla put her hands up and channeled all of her energy to create a fireball, but nothing but sparks flew from her hands. When the witch approached, Nolan panicked and pushed Calla toward the witch, using her to block the incoming attack.
Calla was sent flying backward several feet, falling hard on the ground. The vile creature pinned her, heating her hands to burn Calla with her touch. Calla let out a pained cry, too weak to summon any kind of fire to fight her off. It felt as though the witch could have seared the meat right off Calla’s bones. Then, a force knocked her off of Calla. Jared smashed the witch’s head into the ground repeatedly before breaking her neck with just a flick of his wrist.
Hot tears poured down Calla’s cheeks, both of her shoulders severely burned from the attack. She was losing blood quickly, which rapidly grew dangerous for her. Her vision started to blur and her eyelids began to droop. When she opened her eyes, Flora was hovered over her, performing a healing spell over Calla. She could feel her sister’s panic and worry. Flora still cared for her, even if she didn’t agree with the decisions Calla had made.
The burns were soothed by the magic before they gradually began to heal. As soon as she stopped bleeding, Flora pulled Calla to her feet. She teetered, woozy and nauseous. Cold arms wrapped around her and she immediately fell into him, knowing it was Jared without having to look. As he tried to steady her on her own two feet, a peace came over the field. There was no more crackling fires or witches squeals. There was sobbing in the distance, but with all of the smoke and the voices echoing through the field, Calla couldn’t tell what direction it was coming from.
“Calla, hey, hey, are you okay?” Jared asked her in a panic.
She tried her best to answer him, but she couldn’t get out the words. When he thought she was steady and started to move his hands from her, Calla started to fall. Jared caught her and scooped her up. Her head thumped against his shoulder as he carried her toward the house.
Just as they reached the door, there was screams from upstairs. “Shit,” Jared breathed, running at full speed up the stairs, Veronica, Morgan, and Gabriel right behind them; Flora followed as fast as she could. As soon as Jared came to a stop, Calla forced herself from his arms, vomiting onto the floor as she gripped to a door frame. The fast motions had been way too much for her.
The others opened the door to the room Kristian and the others were in. Calla glanced up into the room, her eyes widening at the sight. Two of the Calder elders were cornering Kristian and Tessa in the bedroom, Charley and the two vampires dead on the floor. Jared and the others with him slowly moved into the room. The elders howled as they sent out jolts of electricity throughout the room. The vampires at the door all jumped back to avoid the lightning.
As if on a cue, the vampires all rushed into the room. Another wave of electricity ran through the room. They all fell backward, but quickly sprang to their feet. All of them then lunged at the witches at once. Calla’s vision danced as blurs of vampires and flashes of lightning filled the bedroom. She wanted so badly to help, but she couldn’t even find the strength to stand straight.
Her eyes tried to follow Jared around the room, but he was too fast for her to keep up with. Her focus then fell on Kristian. Once the others had the witches in their grasp, he finally stepped away from Tessa to help the others. Morgan and Gabriel managed to force a witch to her knees, holding her down by the shoulders. Kristian gave a smirk and went to grab the elder’s head. As his fingers grazed her jaw, the witch managed to get one arm free and lash out an attack of concentrated lightning.
Out of instinct, Kristian dodged it. Then, a thud sounded from behind him. He turned and his face carved into an expression of horror at the sight of Tessa slumped on the cold floor. “No!” K
ristian screamed, falling to his knees in front of Tessa. The others acted quickly to assassinate the witches.
Calla could see Kristian trembling from the doorway as he bit into his arm and let drops of his blood fall onto the massive wound on Calla’s stomach. “Come on, Tessa.... Get up,” Kristian urged, his lip quivering as he watched the blood make hardly no difference at all. Tessa was hardly hanging to consciousness, and possibly life.
Flora walked into the room, going straight for Tessa. She began methodically casting spells over Tessa, trying to heal her of the fatal wound. Tessa’s eyes started to flutter, her mouth gaping as she struggled to get any air. “No, no, no. Tessa, you have to stay awake,” Kristian told her strictly, though his eyes burned with tears.
“I… I don’t think it’s going to work,” Flora breathed to him.
Kristian’s chest heaved with panic, his wild eyes falling back to Tessa. Hesitating for just a moment, he held his bleeding arm over Tessa’s mouth. After letting several drops fall into her mouth, Kristian then held her nose closed and rubbed her throat to force her to swallow. He cradled her in his arms, his ear pressed to her chest to listen for a heartbeat.
Calla couldn’t believe it, Kristian had actually changed Tessa. She was going to be the first known vampire-witch hybrid. If Tessa wasn’t already famous enough, it was going to get much worse.
* * *
By evening, Calla was rested but was still very weak. When the sun was completely set, the remaining eight witches and fifteen vampires moved outside; only Kristian stayed inside, watching over Tessa as she began her transformation. Calla sat down on the edge of the porch, a thick blanket wrapped around her. Jared plopped down next to her. They both watched as the others started piling the bodies of the Calder witches as well as the fallen vampires and Firehaven into one massive pyre.