by Mark Hockley
matter-of-fact.
Ellie's hands reached up with the intention of ripping away the chain from her throat, but even as she touched the metal links, her fingers slowed . She felt light headed, confused.
She tried to clear her mind, but the amulet felt somehow right resting against her, as if it she was meant to wear it. Even the base of her neck tingled with a curiously pleasant sensation. The feeling was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
"So now what!?" Beth screamed the words. "What happens to me!?" She was terrified, her body beginning to shake and tears ran down over her face.
The old woman regarded her for a moment. "There is no place here for any female who is not of our lineage. You are an interloper. You are a descendant of those who persecuted us. You trespass here and you have broken the contract that was made with us. There is only one punishment and that is death."
Beth almost fell over as she staggered backwards with the impact of the words. "What...?" she managed, her eyes wide with horror.
But now there was a disturbance from somewhere behind them. All eyes turned away from the girls and there was the sound of anger and dismay amongst them.
Ellie saw her brother and Luke move towards them, the women allowing them passage by stepping aside and creating a channel. Walking slowly between the two boys was a middle-aged woman with a black ribbon in her hair. Her eyes flashed with anger and humiliation. But she said nothing. She could not because her mouth had been bound by some kind of cloth.
Zack and Luke had her by her arm on either side and each boy also had their fingers curled around the chain around her neck. Their grip was very tight.
Margaret moved forward to confront them and there was a look of fearful horror on her face. "What are you doing!?" she demanded. "What is this!?"
"Don't say anything!" Zack bellowed, his grip visibly tightening on the chain.
The woman took a step backward and it seemed she would speak, but then thought better of it and remained silent, but in her eyes a dreadful fury burned.
They came to a halt maybe ten paces away from Ellie and Beth. Zack searched his sister's face trying to assess the situation and whether she was okay. Then he saw the amulet around her neck. "No..." he said softly, his throat constricting with emotion. "You bitches," he hissed and then tried to collect himself, forcing himself to continue. "Listen to me and listen carefully," he ordered, his eyes darting about him. "If any of you even breath another word we will rip this thing off." Luke said nothing but his unwavering gaze said all that was needed. All of the woman glared at the boys. But there was complete silence. "So this is how it's going to be, " the boy continued, feeling a little more sure of himself. The truth was he wasn't entirely certain that this plan would work, but it appeared to be getting the desired reaction. "We are getting out of here. And you are going to let us go. I'm not making any promises about what happens once we're out. But I really don't care what happens here. I don't care about your sick little community. All I want is for you to leave us alone." His voice was rising with the passion and the anxiety he was experiencing. He gestured at Ellie and Beth and the girls quickly moved to join him.
The witch in the white cloak raised her hand as if she were in a classroom asking for permission to speak, her eyes locked on Zack. The boy regarded her intently, caught in two minds. "If I let you speak, you had better choose your words very carefully." He was counting on the fact that any word of power used could only affect one of them at a time. But he also knew how easily that assumption could be proven to be wrong.
The woman actually smiled at him. "You are a resourceful young man. We are impressed." She gestured grandly with her hand to include the other women. "But you cannot really believe you will be able to leave."
Zack's eyes narrowed. "I said to be careful." He gave the chain just the slightest of tugs and the girl wearing it became very still, her breathing becoming faster.
The witch nodded her head in agreement. " I will be," she said calmly, "but you have made two small errors. Shall I shed some light on your mistakes?"
The boy shifted nervously, sensing that something was wrong. He looked about, taking in Ellie, Beth and Luke. The woman who they had gagged stood impassive between the two boys. It had been far easier to slip away from Jeremiah than they had expected. The man gave no chase when they went. And the woman wearing a black ribbon was the first they had come across who was alone. Zack had tried his best not to be too rough, but it had been a necessary evil as far as he was concerned. They had not asked to be put in this position.
"So let's hear it then," he growled, his patience fraying at the edges.
"Firstly," she began in a soft, crooning voice, "you believe your sister wants to leave. But have you thought to ask her."
This caught Zack off guard and he turned sharply to stare at Ellie. But she just looked back at him with her familiar hazel eyes. There was no dreadful change, no sign that she was anyone other than the sister who he loved so much. "She's coming with us," he bellowed, "so you can stop playing your stupid games."
Luke and Beth were eager to turn and get out of there and kept glancing from Zack to the woman and back again. Only Ellie appeared composed and in command of herself.
"We will see," the white cloaked witch uttered with unnerving self-assurance, "but there is a second error. One which will surely be your undoing."
Now Zack felt truly unsettled, something in the woman's tone screaming at him that they were in serious trouble. But he could not think what it could be. Where was the flaw in his plan? "I'm waiting to hear my big mistake," he managed to say in a passably cocky manner.
"Well, my boy, it is quite obvious. Your mistake is to think that we would ever be concerned at the loss of just one Mother if it meant protecting our community. A very foolish mistake." She paused, her eyes gleaming with malice. "Control," she breathed.
Several things happened at once then. There was the sound of Margaret's voice, a single word shouted in terror. "No!" But even as Zack registered this, he let the chain slip out of his fingers, his mind receding, fading. Luke made a strangled grunt and pulled with every ounce of strength he had, the amulet ripped away from the woman's neck.
There was screaming, but whether it was the woman herself or other witches or indeed Beth or Ellie it was impossible to know.
Zack watched it all, his mind now no longer his own. He just stood there as a voice whispered in his mind, a scuttling thing that moved through his thoughts, blocking them, altering them, forcing him to do their bidding. He looked on impassively and saw the witch with the black ribbon in her hair grab wildly at her neck, her fingers reaching around to the place where the chain had been implanted in her flesh. She cried out wordlessly and then something appalling began to happen to her. The skin on her face paled visibly, becoming Blue and mottled. It was as if the very life force within her was seeping out. And as it left, her body was becoming blackened, brittle, like some tormented shadow. Within moments, all that was left was something more akin to stone, just a dark shape, a mockery of humanity. It stood there for several long seconds, the black ribbon fluttering against the ebony of the woman's face and then very gradually at first, before becoming increasingly rapid, the form started to crumble and fall away, collapsing into a pile of ash.
Now there was utter silence. No one moved, no one made any kind of sound.
Finally, it was Margaret who approached what had once been one of her fellow Mothers. She stood over the remnants and there was something terrible in her gaze. "No," she spoke quietly, "No!" Her eyes moved inexorably to Luke. The boy couldn't say or do anything. He was in shock. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed and he felt sick inside. "Suffocate," she whispered in a voice choked with grief and as Luke's eyes locked on her, something caught in his throat, a tightening around his larynx. He gasped and his hand moved to touch his Adam's apple as he struggled for breath.
And then just as it seemed he was falling away, his body becoming disconnected from him, som
ewhere distantly he heard another word spoken, a word that seemed to ring with force. "Protect!"
Luke slumped forward, air rushing back into his lungs. And through watery eyes he saw two women facing each other. One was old, the other very young. But in that moment they seemed equal.
The elderly witch glowered with ferocity and something else far more potent. Disbelief. But the girl who stood before her only looked on with resolute determination. And all around Luke he saw that a amorphous form hung, a shield of light. He understood then that Ellie had saved him and he let out a small sob.
But even though he felt relief, his rational mind would not relent.
Ellie stood alone. One against many.
8
You should be careful what you wish for. Trust me on this. Don't daydream about being different from everyone else unless you really know what that means. Being really different will leave you utterly alone sooner or later. And when you find yourself in that place, you will soon realise that it was far easier to blend in and be one of the crowd. I know what I'm talking about, believe me. I know because now I have become something that sets me apart from everyone I love.
"Stop!" cried out a voice, full of command. It was the witch who wore the white cloak and all eyes turned towards her. Even Ellie's gaze was drawn