by Clare Kauter
“Funny,” he said sarcastically. “Well, I don’t really remember what I ate or drank in the lead-up, but the next morning I was dead.”
“Wow, you’re right. That was helpful.”
“I was at a party,” he said. I shuddered. Ew. Parties. He saw my shudder and continued, confused. “I was at a party at a friend’s house –”
“You mean one of those friends who left flowers on your grave?” It was a bit cruel, I know, but there was something about this kid that I just really disliked.
He ignored me. “The whole night is a blur. I don’t remember who was there or what I drank or how I got home, but the next morning I woke up dead. I guess it was my housemates who got me home. I think you should talk to them.”
“OK, if we don’t get anything from the witches, we’ll talk to your housemates tomorrow. And whoever hosted the party. See who was there. Any of your friends into magic?” That would probably help narrow down the pool of suspects. If we got really lucky, maybe we’d find out someone belonged to the Green Wattle coven.
“A couple,” he said. “I don’t know–”
He stopped short. There was a rustling coming from our right. Wait – the left. Oh, shit, I realised, stomach sinking. Both sides. An ambush. Henry began to let out a growl, trying to scare off whatever was coming. I reached into my pocket for my herbs – coriander had served me well earlier; maybe I’d be lucky again. Ed clutched the wards around his neck, whimpering slightly. Pathetic.
Two dark figures dropped from the trees on either side onto the track in front of us, cloaks billowing around them. Oh, man. I was not having a good night. Only a few creatures wear cloaks that billow, and fewer still can jump from a tree that athletically. If I attempted that, I’d get caught in my cloak and fall flat on my face, undermined by my own billow. These guys, however, did not have that problem.
A man and a woman stood before us, ignoring both Henry and Ed (who was nevertheless seconds from tears). I was, after all, the only one here with delicious human blood pumping through my veins. The man had short blonde hair and the woman long dark hair, and both were beautiful, of course, if a little toothy. Another rustle to the side and a black cat appeared and strutted over, finally resting in front of them, hissing half-heartedly at Henry. We’d been stopped by the vampire version of Team Rocket from Pokémon and, as ridiculous as that seemed, unless I did some fast talking I was about to become just as dead as Ed.
At least I wouldn’t have to worry about the zombies and witches and werewolves if I were dead, I thought, but for some reason staying alive was still more appealing.
“And what brings you fine specimens out this evening?” I asked. Sucking up was one of the best ways to distract a vampire, and I was very much hoping they wouldn’t notice my hand slowly feeling around in my pocket. Ed and Henry looked appalled and confused at my behaviour, as if they didn’t know I was scheming.
Jessie (as I nicknamed the girl) started to circle around behind me, leaning in closer for a sniff as she passed. She’d be a nightmare on public transport, I thought, then I realised she was a bit of a nightmare in a forest in the middle of the night as well. With one vamp in front and one behind, our exits were blocked. Their reaction times were much faster than ours, and even if we somehow got away and Henry actually carried me to safety this time, chances were they’d catch up.
“Boredom,” Jessie whispered from behind me, leaning in close again, probably taking another surreptitious sniff. I couldn’t feel her breath on me – she didn’t breathe – but nonetheless her whisper made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Thought we’d nip out for a snack,” said James. He had the voice of Tim Curry’s transvestite character in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which, although I loved that performance, was not at all comforting. “You’re up late, my dear.”
“Visiting some friends,” I said. “Probably running late, actually.” I kept my voice even and calm, trying to imply that our friends were somehow more powerful than the vampires. I thought that maybe we’d be left alone if Team Rocket thought someone else was coming for us.
“Oh, we won’t keep you,” Jessie hissed from behind. Emphasis on ‘keep’. James laughed softly. Ah, so they were just going to dump my body on the side of the road afterwards. Good.
“Is this the part where someone makes a joke about how you shouldn’t play with your food?” I asked. My fingers brushed something in my pocket. Perfect. Now I just had to stall for long enough to –
“I suppose it is about that time, yes,” said James. “Thanks for saving us the hassle of delivering such a clichéd line ourselves. I would have been almost embarrassed.”
“I would have laughed anyway,” I said. I’d hooked my fingers around the item I’d been looking for. Just had to keep them talking a little longer.
“Naw, it almost seems a pity to eat you,” said Jessie. “So sweet.”
“I like them sweet,” said James.
“Well,” I said, “that’s creepy. And also it’s a bit unfortunate, because I’m really not very sweet at all.” As quick as I could I flung the garlic clove out of my pocket and into my mouth. It was covered in fluff and pocket-residue but I bit down hard anyway. Although it set my mouth and nose alight immediately and I had a bit of trouble breathing, I kept chewing nonetheless.
Jessie and James recoiled at the scent. I breathed out through my mouth and James let out a wail, cupping his hand over his nose.
“You little bitch,” Jessie hissed, suddenly in front of me but keeping her distance this time.
“And to think I liked you,” said James, a look of distaste on his face.
“Watch your back, sweetheart,” said Jessie. “We won’t be so friendly next time.”
“This was you being friendly?” I spat around a mouthful of garlic. Man, it was burning my mouth.
“Yes,” she said. “It was.” She turned, cape whipping behind her. James turned also, engulfing their cat in his cloak.
“Goodbye,” said James, turning back to stare directly into my eyes. “We’ll be seeing you.”
Oh. Good.
He faced forward and they each disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Black smoke? Oh no… As corny as disappearing in a cloud of smoke was, it was also hugely unsettling that they hadn’t just run off. If they’d run, I’d know that they were just your average vampires. Disappearing, however? That was not in your regular vamp’s repertoire. These were some of the strongest beings on earth, and I’d just made enemies with two that also had a sideline in the occult. Goodie.
“Pretty sure they’re practicing magic without a licence,” Henry commented. Because of course, at times like this, that is what you think of.
“Maybe you should report them,” I said.
“I would, but I left my mobile at your place,” he said. “It was down to 3% battery.”
“We need to move,” said Ed, still shaking, knuckles white from the grip he had on my Corea amulet. I suppressed a giggle. How had that gotten into my ward collection? That was a fertility talisman. “Can I suggest we move back home and begin again in the morning?”
“We’re nearly there,” I said. “We’ll be safe once we’re with the coven.”
“Unless they’re the ones who raised the zombies,” said Henry.
“What with them being, you know, your main suspects and everything,” said Ed. “Who thought going there was a good idea, exactly? I really think that questioning my housemates would be a better option.”
I ignored him, a skill I seemed to be employing on a minute-by-minute basis, and began to walk in the direction of the coven’s hall, albeit a little more quickly than before. “Let’s go.”
“Are you serious?” said Ed. “Do you have no concept of danger or terrible ideas?”
“Ed, shut up. They can’t do anything to you.” This time it was Henry telling Ed to be quiet and I felt momentarily vindicated. I stuck my tongue out at Ed. Then: “You too, Nessa. You’re just fighting like annoying little ch
ildren. We’re walking in silence until we reach the coven and that’s the end of it.”
Ed stuck his tongue out at me. Henry was walking between us but in his wolf form couldn’t see that we were pulling faces at each other over his head.
More light began to filter into the forest as we drew closer to the edge. There was, of course, the moonlight, but there also seemed to be another strange glow. As we emerged from the forest, the coven’s church became visible and the source of the glow became clear. The building was covered all over in snaking green tendrils of energy, writhing around just as they had been in the graveyard.
Chapter 5
“Well, I think we’ve got a lead,” I said. “Shall we?” I was trying to seem cavalier, but my voice was about an octave higher than normal and I just sounded a bit scared. The doors were open and there was a white light coming from within the building, filtering out around the tendrils as they slithered across the doorway.
“How the hell are we going to get in there?” Ed asked.
“Well,” I said, “you’re probably going to walk through a wall.”
“Oh, right,” he said. “And you guys?”
I looked at Henry. “I’ll just change into a bat. Should be able to navigate around the energy streams pretty quickly with the sonar.” It took me a second to realise that ‘energy streams’ meant ‘green squiggly wiggly magic tentacles’.
“So you’re just going to wing it?” I didn’t want to make a bat pun, but I caved.
Henry groaned.
“And you?” asked Ed.
“Guess I’ll just run,” I said.
As we approached the church, Henry transformed and Ed gave me the charms so he could transform into his non-corporeal form. They both got in with no fuss. I, however, stood out the front, trying to predict a good time to run. I hadn’t made contact with any of the tendrils earlier in the cemetery and I wasn’t sure what impact it would have if I hit one. I’d been struck by ‘energy streams’ (as Henry called them) before, but only ever little ones. They’d sent me flying across the room nonetheless, and I still had a scar where one had made the lightest contact with my skin. These were massive, plus from what we’d seen in the graveyard, they were a very dark kind of magic.
I was torn. If I didn’t go in, I’d probably fail my magic licence test. Plus there were two very angry vampires out looking for me, and the garlic scent only lingers for so long. I wouldn’t be safe until I was inside. On the other hand, if a tendril hit me I had no idea what would happen, but it was definitely going to hurt.
I heard a howl from the forest, not too far away. I groaned inwardly. Time to get inside. I stood before the doorway and put my hands out in front of me, rocking back and forth in time with the movement of the tendrils. Henry and Ed were watching me from inside, looking at me like I’d maybe lost the plot. Of course, they probably had never done any long-rope skipping in primary school. I, on the other hand, had gotten pretty good at the timing thing – run in, jump once, run out the other side. I didn’t know any spells that would cut through tendrils this thick, so I was relying on my sport skills. The situation was not, to say the least, ideal.
Biting the bullet, I ran in. I ducked under one tendril – so far so good – and jumped another. I jumped high enough to miss the next tendril, but my fall was out of control. Everything was happening in slow motion. I was completely horizontal and another stream was coming directly at my face. I kicked out desperately, hoping with total futility to make contact with the floor. Instead, by some miracle, I hit the doorframe and propelled myself forwards into the church, landing, as terrible luck would have it, on Ed.
“Did this just turn into a romantic comedy?” asked Ed. I scrambled off him, about to make some witty reply (really, I swear I was) but then I noticed the scene around us. There were witches passed out everywhere – on the ground, draped over pews – with the energy being totally drained from them. If we didn’t break the spell soon, it was going to kill them.
“We need to stop this,” I said to Henry.
“Looks like we’ve solved the graveyard mystery,” said Ed. But he was wrong. So very wrong.
“We haven’t at all,” I said.
“They did it. It’s pretty clear.”
“Someone else is using their power. Draining them,” Henry explained.
“What?”
“There’s no safety net. No one awake to call it off, no herbs or cones ready,” I said. I noticed a table nearby with plates of sandwich triangles and slices on it. There was also an urn and four full cups of tea. “They started making tea then didn’t drink it. This took them totally by surprise. Someone is just channelling through them. Henry, how can we wake them up?”
“I don’t know. What have you got with you?”
I knelt down and emptied the contents of my pockets on the ground. Ed knelt down to join me and Henry turned into a rhesus monkey so he could rifle through everything with his little monkey hands. I laid the talismans, charms and amulets out in front of us.
“What are we looking for?” Ed asked.
“Something to wake them up. And quickly. They’re dying.”
Ed started rifling through the pile as well. He picked up a huge pile of the charms and threw them aside. “They didn’t exactly do anything in the forest,” he said. “I’m sticking to the herbs. They actually seem to work.” He continued to dig.
“Ed, stop it. You have no idea what you’re doing!”
“I’m trying to help!”
“Trying to help is not the same as helping.”
“You only brought wards, didn’t you?” Henry asked. I looked at him, not saying anything. Of course I’d only brought wards. I didn’t think we were going to end up healing the witches. If anything I’d thought we’d end up running from them.
“You mean you don’t have anything?” said Ed. To his credit, he didn’t sound like he was accusing me. He just sounded sad and defeated. For once it felt like we were on the same side.
“No,” I said. “I don’t think so.”
“We need to go,” said Ed.
“What?!” The hatred I had for him returned in an instant. “We can’t just leave them!”
“Their energy is being drained. You said it yourself. What if whoever is doing this starts to drain ours?” I didn’t want to admit that he had a point.
“He has a point,” admitted Henry. “If we can’t help them, then we need to leave before we’re dead too.”
I couldn’t believe them. “Fine. Leave if you want. I’m going to keep looking for something to help them.”
Ed touched my arm. “We need to go.” I shrugged his hand off.
“I know that’s what you want to do. You’ve made it crystal-clear tonight that you’re a complete coward, but –” I stopped.
Crystal.
I half-stood and ran to the pile of stuff Ed had thrown away in his maniacal searching. I knew I had them here somewhere. I always did. They were the first things I’d ever added to my kit – a gift from a very wise lady who’d insisted they’d come in handy one day. Of course, I’d forgotten about them, because I’d never had cause to use them – until now. I found them both at the bottom of the pile, waiting together: my quartz and amethyst pendants. I threw Henry the quartz – the stronger healer of the two – and ran to the nearest lady, who seemed to have collapsed on her way to the tea table. She was ancient, an elder of the coven. I closed her bony, wrinkled and slightly arthritic hand around the stone.
Nothing happened.
Chapter 6
What?! Sure, amethyst wasn’t the strongest healer and this wasn’t the largest piece or anything but – ah. I hadn’t charged them since… Well, I might have done it once? You were meant to leave them out in the light of the full moon each month to restore their energy. And I, well, hadn’t. Shit.
I glanced around. Two metres away, filtering in through one of the high church windows, there was a small patch of moonlight. Rather unceremoniously, I grabbed the old lady by both
legs and dragged her over to the illuminated area. I opened her hand with the crystal in it and allowed the moonlight to hit it. It began to glow and I heard a snap as the cord holding the lady to the spell was broken. She came to, looking a little dazed, and I snatched the gem out of her (still wrinkly but no longer arthritic, thanks to the healing power of the pendant) hand.
Henry had seen what I was doing and was charging his crystal in another patch of moonlight. We ran to the oldest members of the coven first, seeing as they were the most at risk of having their energy drained. Eventually we had woken everyone as Ed watched on dumbfounded. More moonlight flooded into the church as the spell was completely broken and the tendrils that had wrapped themselves around the church recoiled, withdrawing into the earth.
The last girl I woke was wearing a different robe from the others, one trimmed with silver. She looked to be about my age, maybe a little older, with flawless skin and long dark hair. She was also tiny – maybe 5 feet tall. She was adorable.
“Are you in charge?” I asked. Henry and Ed walked over to join me.
“Well, not normally, but I suppose right now I am,” she said. “I’m Daisy. Hecate usually runs the group, but she didn’t show up tonight.”
Didn’t show up, hey? That sounded fishy. “And am I right in guessing this wasn’t a scheduled conjuring?”
“Yes,” said Daisy. “I’m sorry to be rude, and obviously I’m very grateful for your help, but why are you here?”
“Well, we were on the other end of this spell,” I said.
“Oh, dear. What – what happened?”
Daisy was the sanest member of this coven I’d ever met, and also the nicest. She was so cute and sweet that I was tempted just to brush it off as nothing.
Henry cut in. “We were chased by a cemetery full of zombies.”
“A whole cemetery? Well, no wonder we were so drained.” I frowned slightly. That was an odd thing to say. It sounded like she was more shocked by the numbers than by the actual ‘raising a zombie’ idea. “Did they hurt anyone? Or leave the cemetery?”