by T. A. Kunz
“Whoa, sweet thing. Sorry for invading your personal space,” the guy says before I have a chance to look at him. When our eyes meet, his face falls and I can tell he’s not that thrilled to see me, and the feeling’s mutual. He lets out a low groan. “Damn, not you again. I swear I haven’t been using my powers for evil.”
“Ah yes, the warlock from the Alpha Nu Gamma party.” I notice the Greek letters on his shirt and realize he’s a part of this fraternity.
“You’re not going to kick my ass for bumping into you or anything, right?”
I laugh. “No.”
“Good, because getting your ass kicked by a girl would probably make me the laughing stock of this fraternity.” His response makes me want to change my answer.
“Yeah, probably. We could find out if you’d like,” I offer, showing him I’m a little annoyed by his response.
“Nope, I’m good.” His nervous laugh brings a slight smile to my face.
“Actually, you might be of some use to me.”
“Hey, if it gets me away from you as soon as possible, I’m game,” he comments.
“Do you go over the words in that brain of yours before they come out of your mouth, or do you say the first thing that comes to mind?” I ask. “Just curious.” When he tries to reply, I cut him off. “Uh-uh. That was a rhetorical question. I already know the answer.”
He rolls his eyes and leans back to rest against the closest wall. “So, how can I help you?” he asks, his words slathered in sarcasm.
“Have you seen Angelica Delacour here tonight?”
“The Alpha Nu Gamma president?”
“No, the flipping President of the United States. Of course the president of Alpha Nu Gamma.”
“Yeah, I saw her. About fifteen minutes ago. She and a few of her sisters were dancing on the bar in the basement.”
“Thanks. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you were actually helpful.” I begin turning around to head back toward the stairs.
“Hey, if you’d like to repay me for helping you, my bedroom’s right down the hall here,” I hear Mr. Widow’s Peak say behind me with a soft laugh.
I spin on my heel with a sarcastic smile smeared across my face, which is concealing a pissed-off rage bubbling inside me. “It just occurred to me I don’t even know your name,” I say sweetly.
“Why? So you can scream it out later?” My skin crawls from anger and disgust. I nod while batting my eyelashes. “It’s Derrick.”
I move in closer until we’re almost nose to nose. “Now, Derrick,” I say, and then pause before proceeding to drive my knee into his groin. He clutches his man bits as a guttural groan rips through his gritted teeth. He looks as if he’s changing a couple different shades of red in the face. I take his chin gently in my fingers as he glares at me through his pain. “Is that really any way to talk to a lady?” The moment the last word leaves my lips I rear back and send a punch right across his cheek, feeling his jaw hit against my knuckles just before he crumples to the ground. I hear a few of the guys at the end of the hall let out a resounding “daaaamn.” I laugh to myself before turning around and heading back downstairs.
When I reach the first floor, my eyes search for Heath. The noise is almost deafening in here, so calling out for him is pretty much out of the question. As I continue to scan the sea of people for any sign of either Angelica or Heath, my eyes slam into a pair of familiar ones—my brother’s. He’s making his way through the crowd in the living room, headed toward the kitchen. His glare never leaves mine as a sinister grin remains curled on his mouth the entire time. His eyes shimmer purple just before I lose sight of him as a few frat guys carry a new pledge, wearing only adult diapers, in front of me.
I spin around and almost run into Heath, who was coming up behind me. He braces my shoulders with his hands to stop us from crashing into each other. “My brother’s here,” I shout. “Please tell me you found her.”
Heath shakes his head. “Wait, your brother’s here?”
“Yeah, a guy upstairs mentioned he last saw Angelica in the basement. How do we get down there?” I ask with a sense of urgency.
“Over here,” he replies, taking my hand and leading the way.
We maneuver through the many drunkards gathered by the stairs and stop in front of a closed door. Heath grabs the handle and wrenches it open. We’re both surprised to see Malcolm standing on the other side of it, staring us down with a menacing look. Before either of us has time to react, Malcolm clocks Heath in the face, sending him stumbling off to the side. He grabs me by the throat and lifts me off the floor before slamming me back against the wall, causing several pictures to crash to the ground, shattering the glass frames. Gasps sound from the people around us as I feel my air supply depleting. His grip clenches my windpipe and I swing my legs about, trying to break free. I dig my nails into his hand, but he doesn’t let go, he just lets out a slight laugh. A guy tries to intervene on my behalf and receives a hard punch to the face for his efforts, sending him gliding across the floor on his back.
Suddenly, Malcolm’s grip around my throat releases and I tumble to the floor, able to breathe again. I look over and see Heath on top of my brother after tackling him. He gets in a few good shots, but then Malcolm gains the upper hand by rolling Heath onto his back before delivering a few quick punches himself.
Regaining my composure, I jump to my feet and launch myself onto Malcolm’s back. I can feel his strength like a wave of energy pulsing around him. He rises up without even the slightest struggle with me still holding on.
Heath scrambles to his feet and sends a couple of solid jabs to my brother’s stomach, and I feel Malcolm react to each one. He blocks the follow-up punch and lunges forward, delivering a heavy blow to Heath’s chest, sending him staggering backward. I clench my arms tighter around Malcolm’s neck, and my hand brushes up against something dangling in front of his chest underneath his shirt. Malcolm grabs hold of my arm, loosening my grip on him. My free hand takes hold of the thin chain around my brother’s neck. As he flips me over his shoulder to the floor, I tug on the chain, but it slips from my grasp. The wind is knocked from my lungs, followed by a groan of pain when I slam into the ground.
I glance up as Heath’s about to swing at my brother, but then Malcolm waves his hand to the side and Heath is swept off his feet and sent crashing into the wall before joining me on the floor. Malcolm looks down at me as I’m pushing myself up off the ground, and that damn grin appears on his lips.
He snaps his fingers together and a visible wave of energy sweeps through the area. Everyone who was mesmerized by our fight returns to partying like nothing ever happened. Malcolm slowly retreats toward the front door, but never takes his eyes from mine. I notice the thing around his neck glows a faint violet color just before he stuffs it back inside his shirt. With a slight twiddle of his fingers in my direction, he slips out the front door and into the night.
Heath groans while pulling himself into a standing position, using the wall for support. “Well, that was new,” he mutters, dusting himself off.
“Yeah,” I moan as Heath helps me to my feet. I feel the knot on the back of my head from hitting the wooden floor and release a painful sigh. “Shit--Angelica.”
We hurry down into the basement as fast as our damaged bodies will carry us. When we reach the bottom of the stairs, I immediately search the area for any sign of her, but come away with nothing. I recognize a few of the girls from Angelica’s sorority over by the bar and approach them.
“Have any of you seen Angelica?” I ask them, and they all turn to me with inebriated stares.
“Nope,” is the only response I get.
“Didn’t you guys bring her here?” I ask in annoyance.
“Yeah … but she went off with some guy,” one of the three blondes replies before tossing back a shot.
“And he looked like?” I inquire, trying to get anything out of them.
Two of the other girls start snickering for some unknown rea
son and one of them points at me. “He looked like you, but with shorter hair,” she snorts, and I can tell she’s had a few too many drinks.
“Thank you so much, and I just want to say that this interaction with you guys has singlehandedly made me not ever want to rush a sorority,” I quip and then walk away. I can hear their drunken jeers from behind me, but I’m on a mission and couldn’t care less.
“They were talking about your brother, weren’t they?” Heath asks on our way up the stairs to the first floor.
“Yep. He has Angelica, and now I’m royally screwed … literally,” I growl under my breath, feeling pissed off.
“What are we going to do now?” Heath asks while following me outside.
I’m finally able to think straight since there isn’t music assaulting my ears anymore. “I have no idea. I feel so fucking helpless right now with all this. We got our asses handed to us by whatever is controlling my brother, and I’m at a complete loss.”
“Maybe we could go ask Jack if she has anything that can help us. I mean, anything is worth a shot at this point, right?” he says.
“I guess it could be worth a shot.”
“Okay, we’ll head over there first thing in the morning.”
“No, we have to go tonight. We can’t risk losing that much time. Angelica’s gone. We have to find her soon or who knows what will happen to her.”
“Are you sure you’re willing to risk facing whatever’s in that forest at night for the life of a witch?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done something crazy like that. Besides, I swore to her mother I’d protect her. I’m a woman of my word.”
“If you’re serious about this, we’re going to need some supplies first. You don’t want to go into those woods half-cocked … trust me on this one.”
“Then let’s get going. We don’t have much time.”
“What the hell are you doing here, Tara?” I fume when I see her strolling up the sidewalk toward the Theta Chi house. “I told you to stay put, and that we’d be back soon.” I hear my voice getting increasingly agitated and feel bad when I realize I’m taking out my frustrations over what just happened on her.
“I know, but I felt so terrible about the whole Angelica thing that I had to come help get her back,” she explains, which only succeeds in making me even more pissed for some reason.
I place my hand on her back and spin her to face Heath’s car before giving her a light shove in order to get a little more privacy for our conversation, since we’re still close to the frat party.
“Malcolm took Angelica, Tara. She’s gone. So please, before anything happens to you, can you go back to the room and stay there? How many times do I have to go over this with you?” I truly hope my concern for her is coming through with my words and tone, and that I don’t sound like an asshole.
“I’m already dead, Olivia. What else can happen to me? You see all this?” she asks, pulling on the skin of her arm, “this is all just a pretty covering for a dead person. The only reason I’m not eating someone’s brains or my flesh isn’t rotting off is because I was brought back with light magic instead of dark. I don’t eat and I don’t sleep. I’m a walking, talking spell who is delusional about the fact that I can still have a normal life. You brought me back for yourself, Olivia, so let me do something instead of just hanging out in our dorm room, okay?”
I’m caught off-guard from Tara’s outburst, but I guess she was trying to match the intensity I was bringing to this conversation. I never did think about why I brought Tara back to life. It was more of a reactionary thing, and the fact that I couldn’t bear not having her in my life anymore. She has nothing here now except me, and maybe it was selfish to bring her back. I need to start treating her better, making her feel included and not like a pet I come home to and let outside every once in a while.
“Tara, you’re my best friend. That’s why I brought you back. Yeah, maybe it was a selfish decision, but I couldn’t see my life without you in it. I gave up being a Hunter for you.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, really, but I didn’t ask you to do any of that. What I am asking is to let me help you with this, please? You left Angelica in my hands and I let her slip away. I wouldn’t feel right not helping get her back,” she explains.
I move over to the back door of Heath’s car and pop it open before motioning for Tara to get in. She beams and wraps me up in a huge hug. After closing the door when she gets in, I turn to open mine, but Heath’s standing there blocking my way.
“I think you need to tell her,” he whispers so only I can hear.
I sigh. “Not now, but I agree she needs to know the truth. I’ll tell her after all this is over. I’m afraid of how she’s going to handle the news.”
“Better late than never, I guess.”
*****
“Why do we need all this stuff exactly?” Tara asks, picking up an automatic multi-bolt crossbow that Heath had set on his father’s office desk moments prior. “Are these woods we’re going to really that dangerous?
“In a word, yes,” I reply while helping Heath search through his dad’s weapon cache for anything useful on our trip.
“Cool beans,” Tara says hesitantly.
My attention is drawn to her when I hear the sound of something dropping onto the desk’s metal top followed by multiple impacts on the wall opposite us. Three bolts are stuck in the wall, and Tara’s standing there with her hand over her mouth and wide eyes. “I. Am. So. Sorry.” I can hear her muffled voice through her hand.
“Back away from the weapons, now. No touchy,” I say before walking over to the bolts protruding from the wall and plucking each one of them out.
“Okay, I think we’ve got everything we need. Let’s get going before Tara pisses my dad off more than she already has,” Heath laughs.
“I said I was sorry,” she comments. I hand her a vial of holy water to hold since that’s pretty much the only thing in our arsenal that won’t harm any of us. “Holy water?” she asks.
“You never know,” Heath answers before swinging the duffle bag full of weapons over his shoulder and leading the way out to his car.
After driving for what seems like forever, we finally make it to the dirt road leading into the forest. It’s like we’ve entered another world the moment we pass under the archway of ominousness. This place takes on a whole other feel when it gets dark out. The car’s headlights are barely even showing anything in front of us as we continue moving forward.
“Yeah, you so weren’t kidding about this place,” Tara pipes up from the backseat.
“This is the easy part,” Heath responds. “Wait until we have to get out of the car and walk the rest of the way.”
“Wait, walk? Like, out there?” she asks, her voice echoing her fretful tone.
“Hey, you wanted to come, remember?” I turn to look back at her.
“Oh, I know, I was just making sure I heard Heath correctly,” she answers, but hardly sounds convincing.
“Mmmhmm,” is my quick response.
BANG!
A thunderous noise reverberates throughout the car as its entire frame shifts over to the side after something hits us from the right.
“What the fuck was that?” Heath shouts, attempting to pull the car back on track after the sudden impact caused him to swerve.
I narrow my eyes and try to see any movement outside. “I can’t see anything. It’s too dark.”
BANG!
The same noise sounds out from the driver’s side this time as the car swerves to the right, causing Heath to fight with the steering wheel again. We skid on the muddy road, but he’s able to steer us back on track.
“Whoa, something’s really pissed off at us for being here,” Tara whimpers. “I think we’re gonna need a bigger car.”
Heath speeds up in order to outmaneuver whatever’s outside that’s trying to mess with us. With him driving as fast as he is, it doesn’t take us long to reach the closed
gate. He pumps the brakes and throws the car into park. We haven’t had another incident with something ramming into the car up to this point, but that doesn’t mean I’m not nervous and wondering what did it and whether it’s still close by.
“We’re not getting out of the car now, are we?” Tara asks. Her voice squeaks with nervousness.
“As much as I don’t want to, we sort of have to. That’s the only way we can get to Jack’s place,” I answer.
“Hey, we didn’t bring any flashlights,” Tara mentions as I hear her digging through the bag of supplies we brought sitting next to her.
“I’ve got something better than a flashlight,” Heath chimes in before sending me a quick smile while drawing a clear crystal from his pocket.
He snaps his fingers and then holds out his other hand with the crystal resting at the center of his palm. A small orb of light appears from the inside of the crystal and hovers above it. He rolls down his window enough to send the small ball of light through the opening to the outside of the car. It beams bright and fills our direct area with a warm glow, illuminating the entire space around us.
“Let me guess, just another one of your many talents,” I say, causing Heath’s smile to form into a huge grin.
“I guess you could say that,” he replies, pulling on his door’s handle and popping it open.
“Wait, what about the thing that hit the car twice? Are we not even going to consider it’s still out there?” Tara asks from the backseat.
Heath pulls his door closed, sitting back against his seat. “Well, can you see anything out there right now?”
I draw my gaze outside and scan our surroundings with the assistance of the orb of light flitting around the car. After not seeing anything except a bunch of bare trees and mud, I turn to look back at Tara. She’s studying the woods with an analytical eye.