Bad Holiday in Witch Town

by Mark Hockley

utter disinterest. "Go away or you'll be sorry."

  The group of five boys laughed at this and one or two prodded each other as they gazed down at the seated girl. "She threatening me, blood?" their leader asked a smaller, slighter boy wearing a baseball cap.

  There was more chuckling, but there was something mean in the sound that Ellie didn't like at all.

  The threat of violence hung potent in the air.

  "Last chance," she said wearily.

  Now the laughter was quietened and their expressions became more predatory. "This girl got some attitude. Maybe we teach you some manners, innit," the tall boy told Ellie.

  The girl stood up abruptly and the five of them made mocking noises as if they were scared of her. Ellie knew they weren't but they should have been.

  "Obey," she stated and regarded them impassively as each boy's eyes became vacant. They waited for her to speak again like dutiful puppies ready to follow their masters command. "Okay," she said thoughtfully, looking them up and down. "Everyone take off your clothes."

  Ellie hailed a taxi. She gave the driver the postcode Margaret had written down for her.

  "This is quite a journey, you know," the man said to her, turning his head to study her. "It will be expensive."

  "That's fine," Ellie responded. "I just need to get home."

  The driver gave her another long look as if making certain she was genuine and then turned back to the steering wheel.

  Sitting there in the back of the taxi as it moved off through the London streets, lights reflecting on the window as she stared out, Ellie felt ill at ease. She was making decisions now that felt alien to her, almost as if she no longer knew herself.

  She had left the five teenage boys in just their underwear and told them to make their way to Buckingham Palace and try to climb the gates. It was the best she could come up with at short notice. She really wished she could find it funny, but she didn't. Everything had become far too serious for that.

  But the truth was Ellie had much bigger concerns on her mind.

  How was she going to explain to Margaret or anyone else what had happened in the chapel? Would they even believe her? She had lost the document and it occurred to her then that she could be blamed for the deaths of Grace and Helen. Did Margaret know that the Reds had sent their own witches after her?

  And of course, more prominent in her thoughts than anything else, was the matter of who was the man who could use Words of Power and had come to her aid?

  There were so many unanswered questions. And too many agendas at work.

  The taxi moved on, taking her back to Witch Town. Part of her could not believe she would go so willingly. But in her spirit and she was beginning to understand that it was this that truly guided her, Ellie was aware that the rules that she had lived by all of her life were no longer relevant. She was different now and so was the world she existed in. Forever altered and irrevocably transformed into something beyond dream or nightmare.

  36

  Who was he? He helped me, but he stole the contract. And how can he use the Words anyway. I thought it was a ladies only thing. Well, everything is up for grabs now. The game has changed and Margaret isn't going to like it one little bit. But more important than that is the simple fact that the Reds have made a direct play for power. They killed Helen and that's bound to mean war between the Covens, or at least between the Blacks and the Reds. Which also means I am stuck right in the middle of the fight.

  The darkness was a cloak across the fields. Ellie could only make out indistinct shapes, spectres in the night.

  She began to lumber forward over mud and grass, allowing her instincts to guide her. She knew Witch Town lay not far ahead.

  Her mind raced, uncertainty and real fear vying for precedence. What was she going to say? The truth, was the only thing she could come out with. What else was there? It might be hard to believe, but there it was. It had all really happened. Margaret and the others might not like it when she told them, but what was the point really in holding anything back.

  Almost without thinking about it, the thought coming into her head like something obvious suddenly remembered, she said aloud, "light". It was a very odd thing whenever she momentarily forgot about her power and it felt good to rediscover it, the knowledge of what she was capable of lifting her spirits. But was it enough?

  People were dying. And this wasn't a game. This led her to worrying about Zack and the others. Were they okay? She quickened her pace.

  The illumination that she had created was more than simply light, it was an uncanny glow that spread wide about her and it gave the surrounding trees an ethereal appearance. It was almost magical and actually quite beautiful.

  She continued on with assurance now. Some inner compass knew where she needed to go.

  And very soon she would pass through the border of Witch Town. In with power, out with power.

  At first the library seemed deserted, but then Luke became aware of a faint sound, like paper being torn, somewhere far back in the depths of the building.

  It was a relatively large interior with many generously stacked bookcases in uniform lines, creating a kind of maze. The boy wondered what on earth these women could find to write about, although he saw as he glanced at the bindings that they did at least include many classics of literature as well as their own scribblings. Novels such as Moby Dick and Of Mice and Men caught his eye as he moved between the rows. Luke found this quite surprising as he had presumed the witches were intent on controlling the thoughts and attitudes of their citizens. Although it occurred to him and he was almost certain of it, that these books were for the consumption of females only. Men might very well get the wrong ideas if they read too much!

  He moved on, listening intently for the noise that drew him forward. He wanted to call out Ellie's name, but the combination of being in a library where quiet was a requirement and his own sense of hesitancy about even being there kept him silent.

  He went on between the high book shelves, moving slowly, almost tempted to tiptoe. He found the atmosphere in the library quite unnerving.

  Now Luke was sure that whatever was causing the disturbance was over to the far right hand side, so he hesitantly made his way in that direction.

  As he came to the end of a long corridor between bookcases, he entered into a more open area and was greeted by a perplexing scene.

  The witch he knew as Isobel of the Red Coven was tearing pages from books and tossing them casually about her. Already the floor was littered with many remnants of various volumes.

  Luke stopped and gaped. He wondered idly if the woman was having some kind of major temper tantrum, but she seemed calm enough. Her expression was quite relaxed, her attention on the task at hand. She tore out a few more pages, her face turned away from him and threw them off towards one of the high bookcases, where they fluttered in the air for a few moments before coming to ground.

  "I am very pleased you could attend," the woman's voice abruptly rang out and Luke visibly jerked. Isobel turned towards him. "I expect you have questions." She let her eyes find the pages strewn around her, books laying upended and damaged about her feet. She gazed at him with an intense interest that the boy found distinctly uncomfortable.

  "I'm ...sorry," he offered mildly, "I got lost. I shouldn't be here." The truth was he just wanted to get out of this place. He had no idea where Ellie was, but he clearly didn't want to remain in the company of this woman for very long. He really didn't like the way she looked at him, like some cat sizing up a particularly plump mouse.

  "Oh, but on the contrary," she corrected, "you are exactly where you need to be."

  Luke continued to stare at her. "Is Ellie here?" he asked, unsure if he should even mention the girl's name.

  Now Isobel smiled, although there was something hard and humourless in the act. "She is coming. Not long now. But in the meantime, aren't you wondering what I am doing?" She waited as if expecting him to say something, but Luke didn't respond. He kn
ew that he was in trouble, although why or just how serious it was he was at a loss to say. Isobel grabbed another book with a slightly irritated sigh. "Well, I will tell you anyway." She flung the book away violently where it struck a shelf and Luke's gaze moved to where it fell mutilated to add to the ever increasing sense of carnage. "I am creating a stage for you so that you will appear convincing in your performance." The boy's eyes widened and he almost spoke, but with an effort he stopped himself. Why give her the satisfaction. Isobel pursed her thin lips and took a few steps towards him. In Luke's head a voice screamed at him to turn and run, but his legs and feet were leaden and unresponsive. "The story I will tell will go like this. Your friend arrived to discover you in a fit of rage and wanton destruction and she attempted to reason with you. How terrible then that you should have turned your bitter anger on her. She would not have expected it from one so close. Her own Husband no less."

  The familiar wooden signpost greeted her as Ellie walked into Witch Town under the cover of night. Everything seemed at sleep, only the sound of a gentle breeze in the trees and the occasional call of an animal fracturing the stillness.

  She still was undecided on where to go first. She couldn't say exactly what time it was as she was one of those who had long ago begun to trust her mobile phone for the time rather than a wristwatch. But it was quite late she