by Jenica Saren
Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "So, we kill my banshee?" I clarified, wanting everyone to be on the same page.
Four yeses. Four nodding heads. Four men that had just agreed to kill me.
The Night That My Damn Mind Was Blown
When they came, we were ready for them. We just didn't know where we needed to be ready for them.
One by one, banshees scrambled out of the basement door. They knew we were there, too, and they came prepared. As they came through, their numbers became almost overwhelming, but we were prepared. Just as one would drop into a screaming pile of burning flesh, another would escape and head for someone else.
There were a lot more of them than we had been anticipating, and my heart ached at some of the familiar faces I spotted among the masses. Still, I trudged on, alternately slinging tiny balls of fire and throwing matches at their feet.
When I found my grandmother, she was going to be pissed about the carpet.
"They're breaking the windows!" Hansen shouted from the side near the kitchen.
Anxiety was fueling me and I dove forward as fast as I could. The guys were all positioned strategically to allow me more free movement. It limited their options, but also ensured that I'd have a way to get to each of them in case of an emergency. I was the anchor point.
Once I reached the kitchen, I pressed my back against Hansen's to prevent any of the banshees from catching me unawares. I felt like a total badass. A terrified badass, but still a badass. Throwing my palms out in front of me, I conjured a few little embers and blew them gently in the direction of the oncoming mob. When they landed, I said one simple word: "ignite."
They all went up in flames, some scrambling for safety and some continuing their battle with the five of us, determined to crush our souls and turn... Well, they could only turn two of us into banshees. The others would simply be gone from the world. I wasn't going to let that happen, not as long as I was not-alive to stop it.
"Are they still coming?" I shouted over my shoulder. There were at least fifty of the damn soulless creatures that had ventured out of the basement. When the numbers had dwindled a bit, the plan was to take off into the basement - that was obviously before we knew that's where they were coming from, but it didn't matter.
"A few stragglers, but I think the numbers are much lower now," Gavyn called from somewhere far to my left. "Move now?"
"Move now!" Hansen yelled, loud enough for all of the guys to hear over the hubbub. As a single unit, we all turned and bolted for the basement door, knocking down some stray banshees and lighting them on fire as we went. We didn't have time to salt them, but we'd already discussed that it would be wiser not to. At least, not until the battle was won - and it would be.
As a group, we all tumbled onto the basement floor. Well, I tumbled. Everyone else just nearly went down with me.
"It's hard to believe you were foolish enough to remain in one place, little Kismet," Marcia's voice taunted. As I scrambled to my feet, I pinned her with a glare and tried to avoid looking at the banshee that was me. Marcia was grinning at me, as though I were the most amusing thing she'd ever seen.
The two of them were once again standing beside that floating, torn paper thing. That answered the question of how the banshees got in: a portal.
"Is it really that hard to believe, though?" I asked her, stalling. "You're the one who taught me a lot, after all."
The grin dropped from the High Priestess's face and her ruby lips lifted in a snarl. "I really should have just done away with you when I had the chance, but then my banshee army wouldn't be as beautiful, would it?"
"What are you talking about, Marcia?" I asked as I rolled my eyes.
The evil bitch faked a gasp. "What? You mean you don't know?" She covered her mouth dramatically. "Your boyfriends didn't tell you?"
As much as I hated it, I was curious what the hell she was talking about. The guys were silent as they covertly prepped the room, which meant I needed to keep Marcia and her mindless minion distracted.
Crossing my arms, I feigned a bored yawn. "Just get on with it, why don't you. Aren't you always the one that said time shouldn't be wasted?"
Marcia huffed irritably, but quickly plastered a fake, sickly sweet smile on her traitorous face. "Well, didn't you know there's more than one witch among your little group you have there?" She asked, vague and smug at the same time.
It took every ounce of my willpower not to look over at Jadwin and blow his cover. "Actually," I said, puffing out my chest and lifting my chin high. "I did know that." With any luck, the others would think I was just playing along and she was bluffing to cause discord among us.
"Oh, but did you know that there are five witches in your group?"
One heartbeat.
Two heartbeats.
Three heartbeats.
I didn't answer her right away, because, honestly, I was in shock. There were so many things that didn't make sense, but also made perfect sense. So many reasons it was impossible, and yet...
"Of course I did," I answered confidently.
Marcia threw her head back and laughed, the sound grated against my eardrums almost as badly as the banshee's wailing. "You lie, child!" she sneered. "Don't you know that lying hurts people, Kismet? Hasn't anyone told you that?"
"Well then," I said, stepping closer to her, my pulse pounding in my ears. "I guess it's a damn good thing you can't be considered people anymore, isn't it?" I looked pointedly at her blackened arm
In a flash, Marcia's right hand whipped out and snagged my wrist. "There are only two options for you and your boy toys here, Kismet, and I'm granting them both to you to choose from," she hissed at me, her face distorting with a rage that I couldn't describe if I tried. She reminded me of the Other Mother. "You can join me as a new kind of witch and run this world with me, or you and your group can fall to your knees as you join the ranks of my banshees."
"Wow, what a great selection you have there," I quipped. "Anything in a sweet red?"
A short, quiet coughing sound behind me let me know that someone found me amusing, at least. But it wasn't time yet. "How about we bargain?" Witch's loved a good bargain. It was a little-known fact about us.
"Let's hear it," Marcia responded dryly.
"Okay, so, why don't you tell me why you're doing this and betraying your people, then I can decide if it's a cause I can get behind. Just a quick elevator pitch will do, I just need to know what I'm getting into. I mean, no good businesswoman gives up their body and soul for any old business idea, right?"
"Please stop talking."
"Aye, aye, High Priestess."
Marcia released her grip on my arm and sneered at me in complete disgust, as though I were little more than a worm on the driveway after a heavy rain. "I was pregnant. I had a baby. I was going to be a fantastic mother and leader, but the snooty cunts that run the coven? They weren't having any of it. After, all, I'd birthed a boy! The horror!" she spat out. "They made me give him up, otherwise I'd never be crowned High Priestess, I'd never be allowed to show my face again!"
"I'm sorry, Marcia, that was really horrible of them," I admitted. Something about her story sounded vaguely familiar. "But you're High Priestess now. You can change things for the better. You have that power now." I was going for some kind of motivational line, but I was never good at that sort of thing.
She let out a humourless laugh, even as her face twisted again. "That's not even the grandest part of the story, little Kismet," she continued. "I took my baby to several different covens, begging them to take him in and raise him, that way he would at least inherit part of his birthright - but no! The other High Priestesses were just as bad as our own, turning me away, turning my child away from those that were meant to be his family. They're all frauds and liars."
Her face had taken on a strange purple colour that made me a little concerned. "Okay, but enslaving other witches? Turning them into fucking banshees, Marcia? That's despicable." I pointed out. "You're ta
king mothers away from their children, don't you see that?"
"Oh, I see it. And when my banshees are roaming free, I will have my child. I will have more than that: I will have all the children! And I'll be the mother I never got to be." Her black eyes were crazed, pupils dilated to the point that I thought she might actually be on something. Could I change her mind? Could I end this without further bloodshed?
"You don't need more children," Jadwin's voice came from directly behind me and it wavered almost uncertainly. He placed his hands on my shoulders and dug his fingers in. "You still have your son."
Marcia glared at him, her expression murderous and vile. "Of course I don't! My child is gone, somewhere in this big world that has been so cruel to us," she snapped.
Finally, too slowly, it clicked. I tilted my head up to stare at Jadwin, only to see a single tear rolling down his cheek.
"My name is Jadwin, Marcia," he said, his voice full of raw emotion. "I'm your son."
Just like that, I watched the insanity start to bleed out of her expression as it morphed into one of shock. "What?" she asked, as though she hadn't heard him correctly.
"I'm your son. I was born here, to you, and you were forced to give me up to my father, a witch hunter," he continued. It felt like all other sound had fled the room, every noise except for the sound of his voice. "He told me what happened. You tried to spell him, but it didn't work. He knew. I know."
For several agonisingly long moments, Marcia only stared at Jadwin and he at her, locked in some kind of mutual inner turmoil. The silence and tension was so thick that it would take a hot knife to cut through it. It felt as though the room were drowning in it.
After some time, Marcia's expression began to warp back into it's crazed, previous state. "I'm glad that I've finally gotten to see your face after all these years. It makes our union as a group today that much more special," she said almost robotically, mechanically.
"Don't you understand?" I demanded. "You don't have to do this! Your son is right here! You have another chance, Marcia."
She gave me a sad smile that quickly became a wicked, chilling grin. "I understand. It's only made me see much more clearly how dearly the witches must pay for what they've done. My baby is a grown man now, don't you see? And I missed it all because of them!"
In my heart and in my mind, I knew that she was too far gone, having stewed in her own self-pity and rage for far too long to be reasoned with. Still, some part of me hoped that there was a way to maybe get her to see, to get through to her. She taught me about so much of my magic, so much I'd never known and so much that even my mother hadn't known. She was like a second mother to me.
Or, she had been.
My mind was made up. As much as I wanted to save her, I also knew that there were others who needed to be saved first. I needed to save my coven. my friends, their families. And I had to save the four witch hunters who would, for some unknown reason, risk it all for the ghost of a witch who fucked up one too many times.
If I had anything to do or say about it, this wouldn't become another fuck up on my record. For once, I would win, and I would do it for the people who couldn't win on their own.
Without much thought to my action, I shook Jadwin's hands off my shoulders and I launched myself forward. I never took my eyes off Marcia, so when I landed on top of my own body, everyone was too stunned to react for a second.
"Get ready to burn," I warned the banshee beneath me. I raised my hand and lit the flame that derived from pure desperation and a will to help others survive.
"You'll burn too," the banshee taunted. "If I burn, so do you."
"I'm aware," I replied emotionlessly. Now wasn't the time to be getting upset. I'd already prepared myself for the moment. "Now, burn." I moved to swing my arm down, fire in hand, when someone caught my wrist.
My first thought was that it was Marcia, trying to stop me from destroying one of her precious puppets, but when I whirled around, ready to strike, I found myself facing all four guys, Jadwin holding my wrist. "What the hell are you guys doing?" I demanded, furious. "Let go of me!"
"We never intended to kill you, Boo," Gavyn said softly, using the term of endearment in a completely unironic way.
Hansen peaked over Jadwin's shoulder. "In fact, we never had any intention of letting your body get damaged."
"We're giving you a real fighting chance, here, Ghost Girl," Zeph interjected.
I glanced at each of their faces and felt my heart both soar and break. Somehow, I knew they'd try to fix this, some part of me knew it all along. "We still need a necromancer," I reminded them.
Grimacing and rubbing his arm awkwardly, Gavyn stepped forward. "Present," he said. His voice was low and hesitant, and he never looked directly at any of his friends. There was only a mild amount of shock in their eyes, but it vanished pretty quickly. Instead, they all nodded their heads as though it were fine.
Real hope flared in my chest, but I didn't dare smile. Mostly because I felt Marcia's presence behind me and I knew we were almost out of time. Actually, I found it strange that she'd let me this close at all. And that the banshee wasn't struggling against me. "Guys, what's going on?" I asked in confusion. "Why are neither of them moving?"
Hansen's face fell into a grim line that had my pulse picking up double time. He reached over and punched Jadwin hard on the shoulder. Jadwin turned around, fist raised, aiming for Hansen's face. With a wave of his hand, Jadwin's movements slowed right before my eyes. He stepped two inches or so to the side and waved his hand once more, missing Jadwin's punch by a hair.
"You know what would have been real easy?" I asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "If you just said, 'I'm a time witch' like any normal person."
"He was showing off," Zeph said.
Okay, more questions later. "Gavyn, how does this work?" The words rushed out of me so fast that I barely had time to process them myself.
Gavyn shook his head. "I have no idea, but I'm going to give it my best shot and feel my way," he admitted. "Just try jumping in, I guess?"
I nodded, because that sounded like the most reasonable place to start. Taking a deep breath, I took off my necklace and watched as Jadwin's now-empty hand fell limply to his side. Once that was done, I tried to dive into my body, but nothing happened. The banshee had no barriers that I could see, but I couldn't get in.
Frustrated, I touched my magick to my amulet and then pulled it over my head when I was solid again. "It's not working," I grouched.
At that moment, Hansen's grip on the magick that was keeping everything still seemed to let up. The curse of time magick was that it couldn't be held very long. In fact, I was surprised that it had held as long as it did. Before I could blink, the banshee was throwing me off of her and rising to her feet.
Oh fuck. Out of ideas and out of time, I ran to the back of the basement and waited for her to come after me. However, she never did. She only stood beside Marcia like a good lapdog.
"What, giving up so easy already?" I taunted.
"Oh, do stop with the theatrics, Kismet, you're not very good at them," Marcia told me in a bored tone. "You couldn't get back into your body, could you?"
This had stinky traitor written all over it and I should have known that she would take precautions against our success. She was clearly waiting for a reply, but I gave her none.
"You see, as long as even a tiny bit of the original soul remains in the body, nothing else can get in. I took this precaution with all of my banshees, you see," she boasted, looking entirely too pleased with herself for a woman who was surrounded by the dead bodies of her fallen sisters.
I realised then that what Marcia had come for before was to snag a fingernail's worth of my soul from me.
"Oh yes, there it is," she said gleefully. "That energy I sent should have taken off a piece when you tried to go to the veil, but the damn thing was almost as clumsy as you are. Oh well, no such thing as good help, as they say."
Marcia was the one who had knocked my soul
into the weird purgatory I was stuck in with no reprieve for two weeks? She did that? I could hardly believe what I was hearing, it went against every fundamentally right moral that our society was built on. She had broken the creed far before she started making people into banshees. She'd started with me, or maybe even before me...
"Where are my mom and Gran?" I demanded, temper spiking dangerously.
She only waved her hand at me. "That's not important, now is it? I'd be more concerned about what this banshee is planning on doing to your friends here, wouldn't you?"
My head snapped to the side so fast that the world tilted for a few seconds. The banshee doing something to the guys, had them all pressed up against a wall as she faced them with an open mouth. It looked like they were under several pounds of g-force. I had taken one terrified step in their direction when Zeph turned to me with an easy grin. He looked completely unaffected by whatever was going on. I took that as a sign to deal with Marcia.
Turning to her, I balled my hands into fists at my sides. "Justice must always be served to those who upset the natural balance of the earth," I reminded her. "You had to know this was coming sooner or later, Marcia."
All she did was yawn and snap her fingers. "Perhaps later, my dear," she said as she walked for the portal. "If there even is one for you." A loud banging sound above me caused the perfect distraction for the Syntyche High Priestess to step through the portal, leaving it to close behind her.
Once she left, all hell broke loose.
Banshees began pouring down the stairs, more than I had seen before. "Guys!" I shouted. I glanced over at where they had been, but they were gone. Gone? How could they be gone?
Igniting little fires on my fingertips as I went, I pushed through the onslaught of banshees. Every time one would get close, I'd light it up. I was sad that I wouldn't know whose ashes were whose in the mess, but my mind was only focused on getting to the four men that I could no longer see.
The mass of banshees seemed to only get larger and larger as I tried to push through. Suddenly, I felt something strange, someone tugging me by a string. Panic seized me as the sensation grew painful, hot and shredding through me. More terrified, I rushed through the banshees, settling larger flames and not caring where they touched.