Wild and Witchy

by J. D. Winters

  He’d bit my leg. Oh God, no! Blood plumed up and began to blossom red all around me. I cried out into nothingness—because right at that moment, I was swirling in the water as though I was in a whirlpool, and I was gone.

  Out. The world turned black.

  My fight was over.

  Chapter 3

  The sun was warm on my face, but my mouth seemed to be full of salt water. I coughed, choking it out and raised my head. I was lying on the sand, but I wasn’t sure where I was. I didn’t see anyone else nearby, except….

  “Hey Haley,” said a male voice very close. “You’re okay. Don’t worry.”

  I turned my head to look at the speaker. He was so beautiful, like an angel. I winced as I looked at him, as though he was too bright, too close.

  “Haley, don’t you remember me?” he said.

  I cleared my eyes, shook my head a bit, then looked more closely and realized why my first impression had been of a blinding glow. He leaned over me, blotting out the sunshine, which shot out in rays around him from my perspective. Now that I could see him better, I realized he wasn’t all that gorgeous. Still, he wasn’t bad.

  I tried to sit up, but he put his hand on my shoulder to stop me.

  “Take it easy for a few more minutes,” he advised. “You’ve had quite a shock to the system. You need to be careful for now.”

  Suddenly it all flooded back. The ocean. The fog. The shark.

  “My legs,” I said, trying to get a look at them as panic shot through my soul. “Did the shark….?”

  “No blood,” he said. “No bites. No limbs lost. You’re fine.”

  I was fine. Except for almost drowning, of course. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself.

  “Did you pull me out?” I asked.

  He held my gaze with his own and nodded.

  I stared at him, stunned and still wobbly. He looked like he’d just rescued someone, or done something pretty rough. He was sitting on a rock, leaning over and grimacing as though he was trying to regain his own strength. Did I thank him? Or get up and run? I wasn’t sure which it should be.

  He knew me, but I didn’t know him. But I did know one thing. He wasn’t completely human.

  I had to focus on getting strong enough to resist whatever he was planning, but I took some time to study him while I rested. He wore bright blue board shorts and nothing else, so I got a good look at his slickly tanned, muscular body. His face was handsome in a rough way, his features well-defined, and the shock of thick, white-blond hair helped make him look pretty much like your average California surfer dude.

  But not quite. He wasn’t the young sun god he’d looked like when I’d first seen him in the sun rays, but he was impressive, and the vibes coming from him were definitely supernatural.

  I was getting better at recognizing things like that now. Hopefully, that could help me avoid making mistakes like I’d made a few times since I’d arrived in the town of Moonhaven without a clue as to who I was or what I was doing here. Amnesia was a huge handicap to survival in a haven town where no one was really what they seemed. I wasn’t getting any closer to getting my memories back, but at least I was learning how to get along without them.

  I pulled myself up into a sitting position and looked around the beach. We seemed to be in a small cove of sorts. There were no other people. No boats, no pier.

  “Where are we?” I asked, slightly alarmed.

  “About a mile south of the public beach area,” he said, straightening. He looked like he was getting strength back by now. “You can really travel the distances once you get caught up in a rip current.”

  I stared at him, blinking, wondering how he knew me.

  “You still don’t recognize me?” he said, and seemed oddly amused by that.

  Slowly, I shook my head.

  He shrugged. “No problem. We’re going to get your memory back. That’s what I’m here for.”

  I was sitting up strongly now and I was edging away from him, wondering if I was going to have to run for it after all.

  “Where did you come from?” I asked him, pushing my soggy, sandy hair back out of my face. “How did you see me out there?”

  “You would have been hard to miss,” he said, his mouth twisted in a half grin. “You were yelling your head off. I swam out and got you just in time. You were going down.”

  I frowned. I remembered feeling like I was losing it, but there were factors involved, things like feeling as though the shark had hit me, hard, seeing blood and being sure I was bitten. And then…oh yeah, and then the shark was dragging me down into the deep. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fight back. I was definitely feeling and thinking all sorts of things there didn’t seem to be any evidence of now.

  What the heck? Had I been hallucinating? And if so….

  “Did you see the shark?” I asked him. “Did he try to hit you?”

  He stared at me for a long moment, then slowly shook his head. “No, Haley. I didn’t see any shark.”

  “But he hit me again and again, and then he was taking me down. You didn’t see the blood?”

  He looked slightly pained. “What blood?”

  I froze. There had been blood. I’d been so sure. But if there were no wounds on me, how could there have been blood?

  “I swear I saw blood,” I said softly, shaking my head. “I thought it was mine.”

  “No wonder you were yelling,” he said. “But I think it must have been something else. Maybe you saw a seal or an otter.”

  I glared at him. “I saw blood. And a shark.”

  He shrugged. “Okay. I didn’t.”

  I was shivering pretty hard by now. The sun was shining and the fog had receded, but my suit was wet, as well as my hair, and there was a stiff breeze blowing through. I pulled my arms up tight, wishing I’d stayed closer to shore from the first. I didn’t like having to deal with a stranger with my friends so far away.

  I looked him over. He’d saved me. I was sure of it, even if he had his doubts about what was threatening me at the time. I had to thank him for that. And appreciate him.

  But did I have to trust him?

  “Who are you?” I said, full of suspicions.

  He held both hands up as though to prove he didn’t have anything hidden anywhere.

  “Take it easy, Haley. We’re old friends. I understand you don’t remember, but it’s true.” He hesitated, then asked, “Do you remember the accident you were in at all? The car going into the lake?”

  Did I remember? No, of course not. The whole point of everything was the fact that I couldn’t remember. And so far, there had been no one who’d been there to tell me anything about it. But this slightly menacing stranger wanted me to think he knew something, didn’t he?

  “How do you know about that?” Everything inside me was quivering and I felt short of breath. “Who are you?” I asked again.

  He looked at me as though he wasn’t sure whether or not to go on along this trail, but then he seemed to make a decision. He threw his arms out again.

  “Haley, I was driving that day. I was in that same accident.”

  I blinked, not sure whether to believe him. “And you…you didn’t drown? You don’t even have amnesia?”

  He shook his head. “Not like you seem to. I’ve got a few blank spots in my memories of that day, but nothing that’s really holding me back.” He gave me a particularly fetching smile. “I remember you. And that’s a good thing.”

  This whole conversation floored me. There were a thousand questions I desperately needed answers to, but how did I know this supernatural being would give me the straight scoop? I didn’t know where to begin and I was shivering so hard by now, I could hardly form a sentence anyway. I was not at my sharpest, nor my best in any way.

  “You’re freezing,” he noted and reached for a waterproof plastic bag on the sand I hadn’t noticed before. It seemed to hold a pile of clothing. “Here, wear my shirt.”

  It was a pullover with a hoodie and had “Y
ou do you, Dude,” written in purple script across the chest. I accepted it gladly. The warmth helped. I began to go over what I wanted to ask and how I wanted to ask it, but before I could get a word out, he sank down to sit beside me in the sand, leaning close as though he didn’t want anyone who might be lurking to hear.

  “So I hear you’re really anxious to get your memories back. Is that right?”

  I leaned away from him. “Who told you that?”

  He shrugged and ignored my question. “I’ve got news for you. I think I’ve found a way that can happen.”

  I stared. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I think I can do it. But it will need a little help from you to get there.”

  I frowned. “Why would you want to do that for me?”

  He grinned. “Why did I swim out and save you from drowning? Was it the goodness of my heart, or just plain orneriness?”

  “Or did you expect to get something from it?” I added to his possibilities. “Something tells me that you’re not one to put yourself out unless you expect some sort of reward.”

  He looked shocked. “That’s a nice way to talk about the guy who just saved your from a shark.”

  I quirked an eyebrow. “I thought you said that was all in my imagination.”

  Or maybe it was all because of your spell, I could have added. But I wasn’t quite ready to go there yet.

  Before he could answer me, he raised his head as though listening to something, then jumped up, grabbed the rest of the clothes and gave me an urgent look.

  “Someone’s coming,” he said. “Let’s get into that little stand of trees over there. Just in case.”

  Just in case? What was he expecting? But I followed him. I pretty much had to trust him for now. What else did I have at the moment?

  Just as we got cover, I could hear the sound of an engine and then a rattletrap of an old VW bus came lurching into view with a man driving and a woman in the passenger’s seat. From the relieved look on his face, I assumed my rescuer knew them and he stepped out to greet them.

  “Hey guys,” he called out. “Look who I found bobbing around in the ocean.”

  The two faces wore identical wary looks as they checked me out. It was pretty evident they didn’t have a clue who I was. The male was the rounded, woolly sort, a teddy bear in a plaid car coat, who might look benign and friendly under other circumstances, but looked tense and watchful now. The female had jet-black hair hanging straight around her sharp-featured face. She was pretty but looked jumpy as a cat.

  “You remember Haley Greco,” he added quickly, then turned to me. “These two are Roger and Celia. They were in the car too. I know you don’t recognize them now, but you will soon.”

  I nodded. The two in the car nodded back, slight smiles on their faces, as though they knew it was required of them.

  “Do you both have amnesia too?” I asked bluntly.

  They both looked shocked and turned to my hero as though for further instructions. He was ready for that.

  “They were pretty much in the same boat as you until I found them and brought them up to speed,” he said.

  They were nodding but I wasn’t sure I was buying it. Robotic might be a little strong, but they were definitely acting like programmed individuals here.

  “You haven’t told me your name yet,” I noted.

  A sense of surprise flashed in his blue eyes, but he didn’t hesitate. “Marcus,” he said. “Marcus Arnold.”

  I held his gaze with my own. “Never heard of you,” I said coolly.

  He half laughed. “Aw, come on Haley. It’ll come back to you. We were always pretty close.”

  He reached for me as though to throw an arm around my shoulders. That wasn’t going to happen. I moved faster than I’d ever moved before, slipping my arm around his back, placing my hip just right to use his own weight and movement against him, and throwing him into the sand, then backing away, glancing around, evaluating exit strategies.

  I expected a rejoinder to what I’d done to him, but I hadn’t expected laughter. Still, that was what I got. Now it was my turn to be surprised.

  He pulled up into a sitting position, grinning at me. “I’ll give you one thing,” he said. “Your reaction time has certainly improved. And mine has gotten stale.” He pulled up to face me as I sort of squared off in front of him, ready to fight back if he tried anything more.

  “I guess you don’t remember any of our old sparring matches.” He flexed his shoulders as though I’d given him a stiff neck, though the caustic smile still twisted his face. “Just wait. Once you get your memory back, you’ll know how much you’ve missed me.”

  Fat chance. In the first place, I’d pretty much given up hoping for a memory rewind. I’d been like this so long, I didn’t even miss it. Well, maybe that was overstating the facts just a little. I missed it. But I didn’t expect to regain it any time soon.

  “Why do you think you can be the one to help me?” I asked evenly, still tensed and ready if he made another move to touch me. “Where’ve you been all this time anyway?”

  “Hey Marcus,” the guy behind the wheel said, sounding impatient. “We’ve got to get going. That witch…”

  The woman beside him said something warningly in a low voice I couldn’t quite make out and he glanced at me. “I mean that person we were talking about…she’s getting to be a real problem. We’ve got to get shelter before we make any more moves.”

  “Right,” Marcus said, yanking open the sliding door on the van. “Let’s go, Haley. Hop in.”

  I hesitated. “I’d rather walk,” I said. “If you can just point me in the right direction…”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” He was getting annoyed now. “You’d be walking for hours. We’ll take you.”

  Here’s where my mind went fuzzy. If I’d been thinking more clearly, I’d have known not to trust him. But I was cold and I’d nearly drowned and he had saved me. Right?

  Besides, I was sort of thinking I might be able to car jack this bus if I started feeling they weren’t taking me where I needed to go. Okay, I know that was completely crazy. There were three of them and there was no way that was happening without some kind of elaborate ruse that I didn’t have the cleverness or the time to think up. But some part of me thought it might be a good idea to plan anyway.

  Hey, give me a break. I wasn’t in my right mind at the time.

  I got into the old clunker and slid into the middle seat. Marcus sat beside me, but he gave me my space. And we started off, turning on the dirt road and heading…where? I wasn’t sure.

  Looking out the grimy window, I tried to see something in the landscape I could recognize. Instead, I saw a raven.

  Not just any raven. This was a raven I knew very well. Oliver was his name, and he was my grandmother’s butler most of the time. He was flying in the opposite direction than we were going. I watched until we turned a corner and he was out of sight. I had no doubt he was out looking for me. I looked at the others. Had they noticed?

  It didn’t seem like it. The two men were arguing about routes to take and I looked at Marcus.

  “You can drop me right by the pier,” I said.

  His mouth curled just a little and he shrugged. “Sorry babe. No can do.”

  Chapter 4

  A sense of unease sent out wary tentacles through every part of me. I was blinking very fast. “What do you mean?”

  He actually looked apologetic. “We’re not going that way. We’re heading back to town on a back road. We’ve got someone after us, so we’ve got to take evasive action. Got no time to linger. Too risky.”

  Now I was angry. “But I thought you were bound and determined to spend all your time working on getting my memory back.” I knew my tone was sarcastic, but at this point I was using my words as weapons. This guy scared me, a lot. He knew too much about me. And I knew too little about him. Right now I was in his power and I didn’t like it.

  He gave out a short laugh. “I won’t be able to do th
at if I’m captured by…” He hesitated, then laughed again. “By the bad guys.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “And who are they?”

  He looked deep into my eyes and slowly shook his head. “You’ll know that in time,” he said softly. “Don’t go pushing things right now.”

  I looked away. There it was again, that flash of something in him that let me know he wasn’t quite human. I had some powers myself and I was almost tempted to try to show off a little, but I quickly squelched that impulse. I had a feeling his were probably much stronger than mine. Better to wait this out and keep the powder dry. If I’d learned one thing in my few months in this haven town it was that wit and craftiness out-maneuvered pure raw strength just about every time.

  I looked back toward where I’d last seen Oliver, wishing I had some way to call him or warn him or something. Months ago Gran Ana--my grandmother – had given me a communication stone to use to contact her if I got into trouble. But I was more likely to avoid her, not contact her. I’d hardly used it at all and I’d finally started leaving it at home. I mean, I did usually have a cell phone on me. So here I was without either device. Bad planning.

  And I wished I had some idea of what these people were intending to do with me.

  Was I kidnapped? Maybe not quite that, but I was definitely being transported by untrustworthy people who were running from something—probably the law--and I had no idea where I was going to end up.

  It had been a good nine months or more since I arrived here, confused and scared, not sure why I couldn’t remember who I was. I still couldn’t remember, but I’d found out enough about my past to know I’d once lived here. My family had run a local eatery which I now was using as a bakery. My family, however, was gone.

  All except for my grandmother. Gran Ana is a sorceress. As I mentioned before, she’s pretty much supernatural royalty around here. She’s the one who brought me back to town, even though some said I’d died in a car accident, driving into a lake with a car full of friends. I still had dreams of that accident, but I didn’t like to think about it. For some reason, my mind shied away from examining the details of that or of where I’d been for the next two years, before I found myself back here. All I knew was what others told me.