by Mark Hockley
car's engine idled while the witch stood unmoving illuminated by its headlights. Then the sound of a door opening broke the stillness of the night.
Someone called out. "Hello? Is there a problem?" It was a man's voice, tentative and apprehensive.
With no hesitation, Grace strode forward. Ellie and Helen were content to remain spectators. "Control," voiced the witch as she neared the car and even in the dimness the amulet glowed with her essence when she spoke.
Now Helen moved forward and Ellie followed dutifully. When she got close enough to see the occupant of the vehicle she noted that the driver was a middle aged man. There were no passengers. He was sitting motionless in the driver's seat, a vacant expression on his face.
Grace went to the passenger side and got into the car beside him. Helen contented herself with a place in the back. Ellie stood there in the darkness for several seconds, trying to get her mind in order. Was it really so easy to make people do whatever you wanted them to? The idea disgusted her, but also thrilled her on another more primitive, fundamental level. She hated herself for it, but she could not deny it.
"Get in," ordered Helen with impatience.
Ellie did as she was told. Wherever this journey was taking them she would have to go along for the ride.
They had been travelling for well over an hour. The man who controlled the vehicle never spoke, his concentration on the task at hand, namely going wherever Grace told him to go. The woman had produced a small set of instructions neatly inscribed and was following them to the letter, conveying the directions to the man with clipped precision.
"How long will he be like that?" the girl asked in the back seat next to Helen.
"It varies," the witch answered. "This one seems weak so Grace's command may well see us through to our destination."
"About that," Ellie remarked, "where exactly are we going? Shouldn't I have some idea of what this is all about?"
"Margaret told you our purpose did she not?" the older woman said curtly.
Ellie rolled her eyes. She couldn't help herself, but Helen didn't seem to notice. "Yes, I know, Rebecca's lost SpiritHeart and some collector who has it. But what are we supposed to do? Just knock on his door and ask for it back!?"
Now it was Helen's turn to eye the girl with a mocking glare. "The place where the amulet is kept will be protected. I thought that much would be obvious even to you."
Ellie saw no value in continuing and turned to look out of the window as the contours of the land flashed by. They were travelling at a far greater speed than she felt was necessary, but Grace spurred the driver on, his trance like state leaving him susceptible to her every whim.
With reluctance, Ellie resisted the impulse to ask 'are we there yet' and found herself smiling wryly. She wondered if the others would even realise she had gone. Surely Luke would notice and tell Zack. But did it really matter. Now she was outside, what was she going to do?
"What about if someone reports him missing?" the girl voiced, nodding at the man, as the idea occurred to her.
"Do not concern yourself with such trivial matters," berated Helen, "are you so unsure of your powers that you fear you will be unable to remove any obstacle in our way?"
"I was just asking," Ellie said sullenly.
The car sped on, having now joined a motorway. To Ellie it felt so strange to see other people, ordinary people, travelling in their own vehicles, going about their everyday business. Admittedly it was very late, in the early hours of the morning, but there were still other motorists and she wanted to reach out in a longing for kinship with them. The problem was that she just wasn't like them anymore. It hurt her in a profound way that she would never be able to describe. It was too personal, too intimate for any words.
"Take the next turning," Grace instructed their hapless chauffeur. He was soon indicating as they left the brighter lights of the main road and joined a less frequented thoroughfare. "Another twenty miles," the woman in the front seat reported, glancing at Helen.
"We will be ready," was Helen's purposeful reply. And Ellie knew that she would be expected to play her part. She still did not really understand why she had been brought on this trip anyway. Margaret's talk of using her knowledge of the outside world seemed entirely obsolete.
What would be waiting for them at the residence of this mysterious collector was anyone's guess. But it wouldn't be long now before she would be finding out.
Beth stared at the ceiling. It was becoming an all too familiar sight. Sleep was an absent friend, her mind far too restless.
And things were changing again. Abigail had earlier summoned Beth to her room and informed her that she would be moving to the Black Coven House in the morning. There was no reference to anything that had gone before, no enquiries about Ellie or her plans. Whatever her friend had done it had worked. But did that mean things were going to improve. One witch was much like the next as far as Beth was concerned.
So did that include Ellie?
She turned this question over in her head, looking at it from different angles, trying to make sense of her warring emotions.
Beth understood that everyone was having to adjust. She thought about her conversation with Luke. He just didn't seem right. The boy was obviously under stress and was tired, but it was more than that. A number of times Beth had caught something in his eyes, a glimpse of resentment, a shadow of bitterness. It scared her.
She let her mind drift away and found her imagination summoning an image of Zack. She really missed him. Beth had fallen for her best friend's brother pretty much the first time she had spoken to him, something about the way he carried himself, his voice, his smile. She caught herself becoming slushy and found that she was grinning to herself.
But what about this witch that Luke had talked about. He had seemed pretty convinced that something was going on. Beth couldn't believe that. Zack and one of them. Surely he wouldn't. She began to feel the first sharp pangs of jealousy.
What was this messed-up world she was living in?
Beth closed her eyes, determined to get some sleep before her first day in the service of Margaret and the Black Coven. All she hoped was that if she dreamed it would be of Zack, alone without any of those damn witches in tow. Particularly young and pretty ones.
Without realising it she was gritting her teeth. Just Zack. She set her mind on him.
And before too long she was dreaming. Dreaming of things that were disturbing and unwanted.
She saw them together by a river, the sunlight peeping through the trees. Zack with his arm around her. It was perfect.
But there were shapes in the water, moving just beneath the surface.
Beth was frightened of them and she turned to Zack for reassurance, but when she looked up at his face it was Luke's eyes she gazed into. And his expression was one of fury.
He spoke to her, his lips moving urgently, but there was no sound. It was if a mute button had been pressed and all she could see was his animated expression as he ranted at her, his features contorted with a dark passion.
Finally she tore her eyes away from him and looked back down into the murky depths of the river, searching the water. And what she saw made her scream.
Many faces stared up at her, although their eyes were pale and translucent without pupils. Their mouths were open, screaming wordlessly. Shrieking at her on and on without end.
Even though she could not hear them Beth still put her hands over her ears. She couldn't bear it. But even so, she could not stop looking. She was transfixed.
Then, just when she believed it could not get any worse, she felt strong hands on her shoulders. Beth tried to turn to see who it was and just had time to catch sight of Luke, his eyes full of loathing as he pushed her brutally into the water.
Beth screamed as she was submerged and the river filled her mouth and entered into her lungs.
Her eyes bulged open, her head twisting in fear and panic. From beneath her there was movement, as figures dislodged themselves from
the riverbed, coming for her.
The terror that gripped her entire body was all encompassing. Beth was lost to the horrors of her nightmare and she knew in her ruined heart that she would never awaken again.
Grace instructed their driver to pull over as they neared a driveway leading to a large cast iron gate. This was flanked by twelve foot walls that ran for as far as the eye could see on either side. "Remain here and wait for us," the woman told the man as he switched off the engine and sat quite still, an expression of vague disinterest on his face.
The three witches got out and regarded the impressive gates, beyond which the driveway led on through a line of trees. Ellie wasn't sure what they were going to do, but for the time being she was content to let her companions take the lead.
"Open," uttered Helen and immediately the gates began to swing inwards.
Ellie decided that there was really very little that could not be achieved with their Words. It was truly amazing that she should possess such a power. It also occurred to her fleetingly that a life of crime would be a simple enough thing to pursue with this ability. This amused her in sardonic way, but she knew that she had better keep her concentration as nothing was ever as easy as it first appeared.
The three women walked through unchecked. No alarm went off, no floodlights were triggered. They trudged along the driveway without another word spoken between them.
After perhaps ten minutes they made out lights