Witch's Hunger

by Deborah LeBlanc

  Although he didn’t know it, Viv had heard when Nikoli had mouthed, “I love you,” as they held each other within the confines of the forest. She wanted so much to say the same but had held her tongue. The curse of the Triad loomed over her like a concrete wall ready to collapse on her head. They could never be together. History had sealed that deal, and she didn’t even know the entire story as to why.

  It was all her fault. It was she who’d allowed Nikoli too close. Close enough to capture her body and soul. He was human, and she knew better.

  It felt like karma had come back to slap her in the face. Viv shook her head, felt her heart drop to her feet. Instinct and conscience told her what had to be done to fix the problem, and the thought made her want to be swallowed up by Mother Earth, never to return.

  She had no choice but to face a concrete resolution...

  Viv had to let Nikoli Hyland go.

  Chapter 24

  After the Loups were bound to the metal pole and Jaco was summoned to come and get them, the sky opened up and rain pummeled them from every direction. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rolled along with each flash. Viv felt the vibration of it in her body. The problem with a lightning storm was that the resulting electromagnetic field seemed to short-circuit her ability to sense her Loups and their whereabouts. All she was able to do now was recall the sensation, the spidery-like tingling in the middle of her back that she’d picked up earlier.

  The fact that the sensation had been in the middle of her back, told her the remaining missing Loups were somewhere west of where they were.

  Viv and Nikoli were already soaked by the time they made it back to the truck. She noticed as he grabbed the steering wheel that his hands and forearms were scratched and bruised from handling the cable. She wanted to take each one of his hands and place healing herbs on them, kiss them, soothe them, comfort him. Then she remembered her steely resolve. She had to distance herself from Nikoli.

  “Which way?” he asked. “Where do you want me to go next?”

  Viv shook her head. “I’m not sure. With this lightning storm, I’ve lost all tracking sensation. The last time I felt it, I knew one group was west and another east. If you’ve got that hearing mojo you told me about earlier, we may have to count on that to find the others. Remember, when they’re together and not on the hunt, they make yipping sounds or growl and bark. If they’re all asleep—or worse, dead—you won’t pick up any sound at all.”

  “Got it,” he said.

  “Won’t it be hard for you to hear anything with all this thunder?” she asked.

  Nikoli glanced over at her, and a look of puzzlement flashed across his face. She read it to mean, Why are you sitting so far away from me?

  Evidently choosing not to address that question, he said, “I can separate the sounds, zero in on the ones that belong to my target.”

  Thankfully he didn’t insist she move closer to him. She didn’t know what she would have said if he had. As difficult as it was, she had to keep distance between them. The farther, the better.

  “Since we’ve already hit our target west, it makes sense for us to head east, no? Since that’s the direction you felt the other group?”

  “That’s about all we can do,” she said. “Drive east and hope your Superman hearing picks up something.”

  Nikoli grinned. “Superman, huh?”

  She gave him a half smile. “Yeah, well...”

  Driving up Esplanade, they continued east until they were out of New Orleans proper. Fifteen minutes later, they came upon a commercial area with warehouses stacked one against the other. The road ended just past the warehouses and right at the Mississippi waterline. Very few security lights illuminated the area.

  “I’m not hearing anything,” Nikoli said. “But it’s pretty dark back here. Good place for them to hide out.”

  “I have no idea,” Viv said. “With all this rain and thunder, I’m not picking up a damn thing.”

  “All right, unless you want to head across the river, I’m going to get out of the truck and see if I can make a little Superman action happen.”

  With that, Nikoli parked, killed the engine and got out of the pickup. He squinted against the rain.

  Not looking forward to another soaking, Viv reluctantly grabbed the satchel, hooked it over her right shoulder and got out of the truck, as well. She went over to him and concentrated on the rain beating a rhythm on her wounded arm instead of her close proximity to Nikoli.

  She watched as he cocked his head to one side and closed his eyes. Viv felt his energy reaching out for a specific sound. They stood there for three or four minutes, soaked to the bone before he said, “I hear something, but it’s not howling or yipping. It’s like the gnashing of teeth and something being ripped apart. No, wait...”

  Viv knew before he said any more that he had honed in on her Loups. The sound he described was the sound of them tearing into a fresh kill.

  “I just heard a growl,” Nikoli said and pointed ahead, into the dark, water-drenched night. “It’s coming from out there, about three to four hundred yards away. I can’t make anything out in all this rain. What’s out that way?”

  “An old, deserted factory,” she said. “It’s three stories high and has like ninety thousand square feet of space inside. It’s been there for as long as I can remember. I think they used to manufacture some kind of oil-field equipment in there.” She swiped a hand over her face to rid it of some water. “The company went belly up about twenty years ago. No one’s been out there since. No rebuild. Nothing. The owner’s just left.”

  “How can a factory be that far out there when we’re standing so close to a shore? The factory would have to be sitting on the water.”

  “There’s a peninsula down that way. It juts out into the water about five hundred yards or so.”

  “Can we get there by truck?”

  “Not unless you want to spend the wee hours of the morning stuck in mud,” Viv said. “There’s no road or driveway leading to the factory anymore. Just a grass-covered peninsula.”

  “So we’ll hike it,” Nikoli said, then got back in the truck to fetch a flashlight before heading off in the direction of the factory.

  Viv followed, occasionally swiping water from her face. Her clothes stuck to her body like a second skin, and the braid hanging down her back felt like it weighed twenty pounds.

  Now that she was soaked, Viv didn’t mind the rain. In fact, she wished it would soak right through to her soul and wash away all she’d done over the past few days, sending it straight to a sewer. Maybe then the world would stop spinning cockeyed, and she’d save the rest of her Loups and be able to protect her sisters from the Cartesians. Maybe if enough water soaked through, it would cleanse her enough so there wouldn’t be any more Cartesians. Who knew?

  The wind shifted, sending a blast of cool air over Viv’s body. She shivered. Okay, so maybe she did mind the rain.

  When they finally arrived at the dilapidated factory, Viv saw a heavy chain strung between the handles of two iron front doors. A giant padlock had been attached to the chain, denying entry to anyone without a key. Old buckets and other plastic debris littered what was once a front lawn, and from what she could see in the dark and rain, it looked like every window in the old factory had been shattered with either a rock or pellet gun.

  She was relatively certain some of the city’s homeless had made this place their permanent residence. She might have been a witch, but the place still creeped her out.

  Viv walked around to the side of the massive building with Nikoli at her heels and spotted a side entry door standing slightly ajar. She held a finger to her lips, signaling to Nikoli that they should proceed quietly.

  He shifted to one side and peered through the crack in the side door. “Can’t see anything inside,” he whispered. “T
oo dark. I hear the chomping noise, but I can’t even make out what’s making the sound. Don’t know if they’re your Loups or not.”

  “Let me see,” Viv said quietly and ducked under his arm. She pressed an eye to the crack in the door. It was so dark inside it felt like she’d pressed her eye up against a black wall. The building held a noxious odor of fresh blood, urine, oil, wet fur and mildew.

  The sounds she heard, however, left her little doubt that some or the rest of her missing Loups were inside. She knew the sound of feeding when she heard it. She stood listening for a while, then decided they’d never get anything accomplished just standing out in the rain.

  Nikoli must have been thinking the same because he pushed gently against the door. “We’re not getting anywhere like this. I’m going in.”

  The door creaked so loudly when he pushed on it that Viv heard it over the pounding rain and thunder. When it was wide enough, he slipped in sideways. Viv followed right behind.

  They stood inside for a moment, letting their eyes adjust to the dark. Viv tapped Nikoli on the back. “Let me have the flashlight.” Somewhere between here, the docks and Treme, she’d managed to lose hers.

  He handed it to her. “You turn that light on, and they’re either going to attack or scatter.”

  She flicked a finger against his back. “They’re my Loups, remember?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said quietly, and she heard the smile in his voice.

  Holding her breath, Viv flipped the switch on the flashlight.

  In the middle of a vast, oil-stained concrete floor were at least twenty of her Loups, all fighting over what remained of a human body. All that was recognizable was a foot still trapped inside a worn-out sneaker with no laces. The sound of chomping, chewing, snarling echoed loudly through the building. It made her sick to her stomach.

  Startled, the Loups huddled, ducking their heads, protecting their eyes from the light. Some of them yelped. A few growled and turned in their direction, faking a pounce. But Viv knew better. None were going to leave dinner behind.

  No amount of cable was going to capture this group. Viv blew out a frustrated breath. “How on earth are we going to get all of them back to the compound?” she asked Nikoli.

  He swiped a hand through his hair, then his beard. “Any spell come to mind?”

  Viv tsked. “For some reason I can’t even hang onto one Loup with a binding spell. What’s it going to do with twenty?” Her Grimoire suddenly came to mind, and Viv mentally went through the worn pages she’d read morning after morning for the past fifteen years.

  One spell stuck out in her mind, and she considered it. She hadn’t attempted this spell before but remembered the word verbatim. She had no idea if it would work or fall flat like her binding spell. But there was only one way for her to find out.

  “I’m going to try a teleportation spell,” she said. “See if I can get them back to the compound in one fell swoop. I don’t know if it’s going to work or piss them off. Just saying.”

  “What can I do to help?” Nikoli asked.

  “Watch my back.” She handed him the flashlight, and the jittery Loups looked over in their direction, then back at dinner. She knew when they looked over this way, all they saw was a beam of light. But there was no discounting their sense of smell. As soon as they finished the meal they’d already started, the greedy Loups would be looking for more. Since there was little left of their fresh kill, Viv knew she needed to get with the program or get out.

  The spell called for Viv to sit on the floor with her legs crossed and her arms on her thighs, hands palm up, and her eyes closed. Not exactly thrilled with the close-your-eyes part, Viv slowly lowered her body so as not to startle the Loups, then finally sat.

  With a slow, fluid motion, she sat cross-legged and placed her arms on her thighs, keeping her hands palm up. She glanced one last time at Nikoli, then over at the Loups before closing her eyes. She blocked out the feeding sounds and rain beating against the old structure, the wretched smell of the building. All she allowed in her mind was a vision of her Grimoire. Then she began the spell.

  “Par mon commandement,

  laissez-vous le corps et l’ame,

  a la place mon esprit maintenant.

  rapidement se deplace.

  Adhon—Fiontan—Uri—Ila!”

  After reciting the spell, Viv didn’t want to open her eyes and face another disappointment. While she was still in a zen state, Viv repeated the spell, hoping a double whammy would do the trick.

  “Par mon commandement,

  laissezvous le corps et l’ame,

  a la place mon esprit maintenant.

  rapidement se deplace.

  Adhon—Fiontan—Uri—Ila!”

  “They’re gone!”

  Hearing Nikoli’s excited cry, Viv opened her eyes. Every Loup that had been feeding on the human, still smeared across the floor, had vanished into thin air.

  “You did it!” Nikoli said and helped Viv to her feet.

  Not wanting to get too excited yet, Viv hurried out the side door, into the night, where the pounding rain had turned into a lazy drizzle. She cupped her hands around her mouth and howled for Jaco to confirm the Loups’ arrival. She had to howl twice more before she heard his response.

  She had done it. The Loups were back in the compound! Viv whirled about on the balls of her feet, no longer caring about the pain in her arm. She wanted to fly into Nikoli’s arms and celebrate.

  No, no more, she reminded herself.

  With great effort, Viv kept her demeanor business-like. “I need to get back to the compound before feeding so I can help Jaco. I’m sure he can use an extra pair of hands.” She turned to head back to the truck and heard Nikoli call out.

  “No. Not yet.”

  She turned to face him. “What?”

  He motioned to the remains of the person the Loups had been feeding on. “I can’t just leave the body here like that. I’m not sure if we should call the police or not.”

  “We can’t call the authorities. That’ll start an investigation. The Circle of Sisters will wind up being involved. My own sisters, too. I can’t take that chance.”

  “But what about him—her? They might have family looking for them. Loved ones who are worried sick over their disappearance.”

  “I have to think about my family, Nikoli. No authorities.”

  He frowned, looked over at the body, or what remained of it. Then took the flashlight and walked across the length of the building, shining a beam of light into one corner or another.

  “What are you doing?” Viv asked.

  Instead of responding, Nikoli bent down and picked up an old shovel. The spade was still intact, but the handle was broken and only two feet long.

  “I’m going to bury the remains. I know we’re running out of time so I’ll be quick. We just can’t leave that body there to rot.”

  With that, Nikoli hurried past her and out of the building with his broken shovel. He didn’t walk far before he started digging.

  Viv watched as he managed to haul up three spades of dirt.

  “There’s an easier way to get that done,” she said.

  He looked up at her quizzically, and she motioned for him to step back a few feet. When he was out of the way, Viv held her hands out in front of her in a praying position, silently issued an incantation, then parted her hands like a book. The earth where Nikoli had been digging opened up.

  Since there were so few remains left from the body, she’d called for a three-foot-by-three-foot hole, and that was exactly what she got.

  Nikoli nodded as if this was a daily routine for them and went back into the factory. He came out moments later with his hands filled with blood and leftover innards. He walked over to the hole and gently placed them inside. When he did it, it wa
s as if someone turned off a faucet in the sky because the rain abruptly stopped.

  Nikoli made at least five trips carrying mangled flesh and bone. His last load was the foot still encased in the sneaker. Once that was safely in the hole, he grabbed the broken shovel and started tossing loose dirt into it, burying the remains.

  Neither of them spoke as he shoveled dirt over the few remaining pieces of flesh and bits of hair and bone.

  When he was about done, Viv took the flashlight and went to the entrance of the factory, where she’d spotted a few old buckets strewn about in the grass. She found one that sat upright and had about six inches of rainwater in it.

  She carried the bucket back to Nikoli. He looked inside it, then dipped his hands into the water and washed off the blood and dirt. Viv watched him, her heart full, her mind quiet for the first time in her life.

  When he was done washing, Nikoli stood, wiped his hands dry on the back of his pants, then quietly stared into Viv’s eyes. She saw hunger in them, not just for her body but for her, all of her. It was as great a hunger as she had for him.

  Nikoli held out a hand.

  Viv took it with trepidation, and they walked away from the factory, hand-in-hand.

  She didn’t know if accepting his hand—accepting him, had just sealed her fate, but she’d had no choice. It felt like two universal truths had been set into motion from the moment they’d met.

  Their hunger for each other existed for a reason.

  And, from this day forward, their love, so full—so complete—so satisfying, would never again be denied.

  Viv stopped for a moment and turned to Nikoli. Their eyes held, soft, deep, longing. Still holding one of his hands, Viv felt his pulse beat faster and was certain he felt the same from her. She had no idea when or how any of the reprecussions from the Triad curse might come to be. But one thing she knew for sure. The biggest curse of all would be living without him.