The Witchling Apprentice

by B. Kristin McMichael

  “Do you know how much it sucks to be on this side of the barrier?” Whitney asked. “I’ve spent my whole life wishing to be in your shoes, but right now I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be. I don’t want you to leave me. You’re the only normal person I know. I’m sorry we haven’t been able to get Maria yet. I promise we’ll find her.”

  “I hope so,” Cassie replied.

  Whitney stood. “Time for me to join the freaks downstairs.”

  “I wish you didn’t have to go,” Cassie complained. She really needed her best friend.

  “I wish I didn’t either,” Whitney replied. “Maybe you could do that wish spell and wish me to change into my full animal. Then I could join you.”

  “Sure. We can give that a try,” Cassie replied.

  Shutting her door, Cassie went back into her bag of potions. Quickly, she found the two spells she needed and added them together. She wished to see her friend as a fuzzy tiger. She didn’t want to be alone. Cassie doubted it would work. Their breed of magic was way stronger than a simple wish spell, but it didn’t hurt to try.

  Soon enough there was scratching at the door. Cassie would have worried about opening it, but she already knew her protection spell would keep the monsters downstairs out as Whitney demonstrated. All she could hope was that her spell would let the furry version of her friend in.

  Cassie opened the door, and the large striped tiger pushed the door open farther with her nose. Cassie ran her hand down the tiger’s back as she walked by. Tiger Whitney paused while Cassie shut the door. Once she had, the tiger sat down at the bed and waited with a thumping tail for Cassie to join her.

  “Impatient?” she asked, smiling.

  The tiger huffed and nodded to the door.

  “The wards are all set,” she told her friend who was staring at the door still. “Promise. No one else is getting in. You could only get through in your furry state.”

  Cassie walked over to her dresser. “I’m gonna change before opening the snacks.” Cassie grabbed her pajamas then headed to the bathroom. When she came back out, the tiger was already ripping apart one bag of chips.

  “Gosh, hungry much?”

  Her tiger friend looked up at her with blue eyes and gave her a toothy grin.

  “Fine. Let me get those.”

  Cassie reached down and grabbed the bag to open.

  “Do your tastes change also when you grow fur?”

  Tiger Whitney was grabbing the sour cream and onion chips. Person Whitney would never be caught eating something that could make your breath stink like that.

  “This is going to be a long night without you talking back. How am I supposed to get advice from you about everything?”

  Pausing in her munching of the chips, Tiger Whitney looked up at Cassie and nodded.

  “I suppose that’s the best I’ll get from you. You know, why couldn’t you turn into a talking tiger? I mean, come on, you turn into a gigantic animal at night. Why not a gigantic talking animal? It would make my life easier … but I guess there isn’t anything easy in my fate cards these days.”

  Cassie sat down on her bed. Soon enough the tiger was done eating and jumped up next to her. She stretched beside Cassie, taking up more than most of the bed. The tiger yawned before nudging the pillow next to her. Lying down, Cassie put her head on her pillow.

  “You know the worst part of the date?” Cassie asked; the tiger lifted her head to look at Cassie. “It was actually fun. For the first and only date I’ve ever been on, it was the best I’ve had. I mean, the only comparison I have is your date, but I promise you it was much better.”

  The tiger nudged Cassie with her forehead.

  “No way are you getting details out of me,” Cassie added, pushing her friend’s head off her pillow.

  “Come on, you big lug. This bed can barely fit us both when you aren’t a big furry animal.” Cassie pushed her furry friend back on the bed to claim more space.

  That made Tiger Whitney spread out even more. Cassie sighed. The tiger rotated to give Cassie a furry pillow to sleep on.

  “Does this ever get any less weird?” she asked.

  The tiger grumbled a chuckle that made Cassie’s head bounce.

  “Fine. I’ll have to get used to it I guess.”

  Cassie rolled over and used the tiger to keep warm. It wouldn’t be a long night now that her friend was there. How could she be worried about the half-monsters from before when she had a giant tiger with her? It was the most ferocious-looking thing she had ever met, but knowing it was her friend made her see she wasn’t scary. Even if she couldn’t talk, she was still Whitney.

  It was hours later when Cassie awoke to a noise outside her window. She lifted her head off her pillow to see that tiger Whitney was gone, and her room door was open. Not that it mattered much. Her spell was still intact, and no one was upstairs.

  Her room was warm, and Cassie went to the window to open it. She cracked it a little to let in a breeze before heading back to bed. It had been a strange night, and she was ready for her weekend to start. Whitney had promised they could go to the library first thing in the morning, but Cassie knew she didn’t mean four a.m. Stumbling to her bed, she lay back down. It was too early, and more sleep was needed. Cassie rolled over and felt the warm spot where her tiger friend had been not too long ago.

  “Night, night, Whitney,” Cassie said even though her friend probably couldn’t hear her.

  CHAPTER 9

  Cassie felt the wind in her hair as she floated in her dream. It felt nice after her room grew too warm. She could remember that she opened a window, and was thankful she had. She was in a fuzzy sleep state, but not willing to leave her bed. Reaching down to grab her covers, Cassie wished her tiger friend would be back, but she didn’t know how long they stayed in their animal form at nighttime. The instant warmth would have been good with the breeze running over her.

  Cassie’s eyes tried to shoot open as she realized that there were no covers, and she couldn’t move to reach anything. Her eyes were heavy with the feeling of magic. Someone had put a spell on her, and she felt the familiar pull of her muscles rejecting her own thoughts.

  With silently chant a counter spell, she tried to undo the magic even though she had no clue what was going on, but was pretty sure she didn’t want to find out by ending up on an altar somewhere. Aunt Maria used to scare Cassie with tales of witches going against each other and sacrificing each other to gain power. She hoped those were all tales.

  The wind blew harder as Cassie was carried by someone, a very large someone. Her sense of smell told her it was an unclean someone, but not the person who had cast the spell.

  Her eyes regained function, but she kept them closed as she chanted more in her mind. Slowly, she could feel her fingertips and then her whole fingers. Projecting her spells silently had come in handy twice in a week now. Cassie would have to thank her aunt when she finally came home.

  Leaves crackled as her abductor continued to move. Beneath her hands was a blanket that she was being held in. It was the only thing keeping her warm. Hopefully, it meant they didn’t want to hurt her since they had done that. Her head was being held tight against the body of the person carrying her. Soon enough, their movement stopped. Cassie felt the ground beneath her when she was set down.

  She cracked her eyes open. Standing only feet away was one of the monsters she had seen before, a half-transformed skinwalker. Cassie wanted to sit up and ask them who they were and why they took her away from everyone, but something told her to keep silent. Cassie trusted her gut. It had gotten her out of more than one bad occasion.

  The creature screeched, and she shivered. It was calling to others. Cassie peeked again and discovered the creature had moved farther away. She expected to be in the woods, but instead knew exactly where they were—they were just outside Miller Diner on the edge of town. The creature stalked away toward the woods behind the diner. Cassie wiggled her toes. She had feeling back in all of her body. This was her only
chance since the monster walked away. She had to make it around the building and inside. There she could call for help.

  She waited until the creature was farther away and had its back to her, then slowly brought her feet up to stand. Crouching on the ground, she was ready. She took a deep breath and didn’t look back as she sprinted around the building. She didn’t pause to listen to see if it followed her. She had a feeling it would, no matter what she tried, and she could never outrun it home. The diner was her chance.

  Cassie rounded the building and slipped inside. The main door was open, but after she was inside it was too late to realize that it was still early morning. No one was in the diner, and it was closed. Cassie looked outside the half-moon window in the front door and saw the creature stalking in her direction. She took note of the empty walkway to the front door she was now trapped in. A bench was sitting there for people who would wait to be seated. It was the best she could do as she turned and pushed it against the front door. The creature noticed she was blockading herself in the diner and sprinted faster than humanly possible. Its long, clawed hands snaked inside the door and grabbed her leg. Cassie didn’t pause for the pain as it broke through her skin, ripping a gash in her thigh. It was bad enough to be taken, but how Uncle John and Whitney talked about the thirst of night humans, she wouldn’t live now with her blood dripping down her leg if the monster got to her. She would be too tempting not to eat. Cassie gave one last push and got the bench to stop the door from being opened.

  Cassie hurried back to the other door and pounded on it. There had to be someone that came in early.

  “Help,” Cassie called, but there was no answer.

  The creature pounded equally as hard on the front door, now unable to get inside as the bench barricaded Cassie in. It pressed its face against the window and looked at her with its red, beady eyes. Noticing the blood, the night human licked its lips.

  “If we’re really connected, now would be a good time to get here,” Cassie muttered, rubbing the pendant she still wore from Nate.

  The creature stepped back from the door and screeched again. Cassie heard the grumbling as more steps crunched across the stone parking lot. She didn’t have the time or energy to peek out the window. They were slow and taking their time because she was trapped. Cassie gasped as the bench shook from the one night monster ramming the door. There was no way it was going to hold up to multiple creatures at once.

  Cassie pushed against the door to the diner. She needed to get out, but her strength was slowly leaving. Blood dripped down her leg. The cut was deeper than she thought, and she was losing too much blood.

  She dipped her finger in the blood. It was the last bit of power she could use, and she refused to be eaten alive by red-eyed monsters. Quickly, she drew a circle around her and anointed each compass point. She didn’t have the slightest clue what would stop the creature without her potions, but it was time to improvise. The familiar hum of magic bubbled around her. At least she didn’t have to die being monster food. The protection would last as long as she lasted, at least in theory.

  Cassie heard a roar as more creatures arrived outside the diner. She didn’t have the energy left to see what was happening, but it didn’t matter. She had only minutes left before she would bleed out. The sun began to rise outside and Cassie smiled. She could see pretty red streaks lining the sky from her spot on the floor. One last sunrise.

  The doors smashed open as her bench gave way. Splinters bounced off her bubble where she was lying, but she didn’t have the energy to open her eyes and see her attacker.

  “Cas, just stay with me,” someone told her as they reached down through her magic. Even that was failing alongside her.

  She felt pressure on her wound and a burning tightness. Magic she had never felt before was knitting her wound back together. Cassie wanted to see who her savior was. She was sure the voice was male. There were no male witches in the coven but magically she was being healed.

  Her rescuer tipped her head back and her mouth open before she could protest. Even with a healing spell, she had still lost too much blood. They didn’t have to waste their energy. She needed to know that she was fine dying. Her parents would be waiting for her on the other side.

  Burning raced down her throat. The magic she felt on her wound was now inside of her, making every last part of her reenergized. Cassie felt weak, but she also felt better. She cracked open her eyes to look up at her savior. His beautiful blue eyes stared back at her. Nate held her in his arms like a baby, relief written all over his face.

  “I thought I was too late.” He touched his forehead to hers.

  “Too late?” Cassie rasped. She was still unsure what had happened.

  “I thought when I smelled all your blood that I couldn’t save you,” Nate replied.

  “You did that magic?” Cassie asked, her throat scratching as she talked.

  Nate pulled her close. “I’m no magician. I’m a monster, remember?”

  “We have to get out of here now,” Whitney said as she stood in the broken doorway. “Owen brought the cars around.”

  Nate stood, and Cassie tried to push herself up also.

  “No, let me carry you,” Nate told her.

  “No thanks,” Cassie replied.

  Nate didn’t let her stand all the way as he scooped her into his arms.

  “If you walk out of here like you’re all better, then they’ll know I used my blood to heal you,” Nate whispered into her ear.

  “You did what?” Cassie didn’t have the energy to make her accusation sound as mad as she was.

  Nate pressed his lips to hers as he walked out of the diner carrying her to the waiting car. Gently, he put her down in the backseat before sliding in next to her.

  “Should I head to your father’s place?” Owen asked from the driver’s seat.

  “No, take her back to her uncle’s. I’m sure they have the wards fixed and relocated,” Nate replied. Owen nodded and took off.

  “Are you going to explain—” Cassie began, but Nate put his hand over her mouth.

  “I’ll tell you later,” he answered quietly.

  Cassie pouted, but still had no energy to argue. Nate was getting off easy, but she wasn’t going to let up until he clearly explained what he’d done.

  Owen drove quicker than normal, and that was saying a lot since he rarely drove the speed limit as it was. Cassie caught his glances back to her in the rearview mirror. She was feeling better, but was still sore all over. Her magic was drained, making her spell and the weird tingling from Nate’s magic almost gone.

  “I think I need to sleep,” Cassie muttered as her eyes began to droop.

  “Don’t,” Nate told her. “You’ve lost too much blood. If you go to sleep, you might not wake up.”

  Cassie shrugged and kept her eyes closed. She had already made her peace with dying.

  The windows opened beside her, and the cold wind whipped her in the face.

  “Hey,” she complained, “it’s cold outside.”

  “Good,” Nate replied.

  Cracking open her eyes, she glared at him. He shrugged as Owen let out a sigh of relief; he was turning down her street to her house. Cassie didn’t get a chance to get comfortable again as Owen pulled to a sharp stop in front of her house. Nate held her when she jerked forward.

  The door was suddenly opened as her uncle reached in and easily pulled her from the car like she was a doll.

  “She’s injured,” he growled.

  “But alive,” Nate replied. He neither backed down nor took Cassie from her uncle.

  Uncle John carried Cassie back inside the house. They stopped in the living room, and he laid her on the couch. A coven elder Cassie had only seen once as a child was waiting for them. Taking on look at Cassie, the older woman gasped.

  “She’s close to death,” the woman said to the men in the room.

  Cassie finally noticed the room was filled with people. Her uncle and Nate stood the closest to her, but also
in the room were Nate’s father, who was her uncle’s best friend, and a couple more guys she didn’t know the names of.

  “We need to call Maria back,” John told the room.

  There were numerous coven members in the room also, and they all began to talk. The coven leader—a thin, pale woman that looked far from her prime—clapped her hands. Everyone fell silent.

  “We won’t be calling back Maria. Alexandria is more than capable of healing what’s left to be healed, and the boy did the rest by applying our potions before bringing her back. She will live and be fine. More important is to find out how the wards were broken and how they got this far in town.” The older lady looked at Nate’s father as she spoke. He nodded. “Keep her on the first floor here with us, and you all figure out where they came from and where they’re hiding in town.”

  The men in the room all bowed to the woman before they left.

  “Except you, Nathaniel. You will stay here and finish what you started. She will need your blood for the potion.”

  John hesitated to leave with the men. The older lady tsked at him, and he looked back to Cassie. She gave him a meek smile with all the energy she had left.

  The room grew quiet without the men in it.

  “Look her over and see what we need to add to it. We need to replenish her blood so we can do the bond tonight,” the coven leader spoke again.

  Cassie’s mouth dropped open. She still had a week before the ceremony. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

  Nate sat beside Cassie and looked into her face.

  “No,” Nate said to the lady.

  “What?” she exclaimed as she turned to him.

  Nate pulled Cassie protectively into his arms.

  “The binding will be her choice. I won’t force that on her,” Nate stated. Cassie could feel his heartbeat pick up as he spoke. The old lady was small, but even Cassie knew the power within her was more than meets the eye. She was the leader, after all.