The Dark Witch

by Tabitha Scott

  “She was never trained to do it, but she might have the power, it would be raw, like Hatchesput said,” Pulania observes.

  Stop looking at me like that!

  “What’s her first name?” I ask Susan.

  “Kathleen.”

  “Noooo…” I reply.

  Everyone sits up a bit. “I know a white witch called… well, I know ‘of’ a white witch called Kathleen, and I think she is a Whyte. It couldn’t be the same one though, she’s in Scotland.” It was the white witch I’d sent Josh to, to be cured of his hyperthyroidism.

  “We were from Scotland originally.”

  “What?”

  “My Dad moved us back to his home town in the US after my mother died. But we lived near Edinburgh when I was young.”

  Well, Ficketty Feck. “Oh Susan you’re just full of little revelations, aren’t you, sweetie.”

  Chapter 12: The white Fae

  We’re getting up to leave.

  “Right it’s settled. Pulania is taking Susan back to her lab, while Gil and I go and find out what we can from this Kathleen Whyte.”

  “Yes,” Pulania agrees, “but later on you and I are getting together to have a little chat about that angel fellow.”

  Oh, shit that sounds ominous. Deny, deny, deny.

  “I can handle him. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m sure you can, that’s why we’re talking.”

  Shit, shit, shit.

  “Whatever. We need to catch up later and compare notes, anyway. How long will it take to get Susan’s clap cultured?”

  “It’d usually take about 10 days, but with a bit of magik my staff are going to be amazed at how quickly this cultures. By tomorrow, probably.”

  “Well, we’ll catch up then. You watch out for Susan in the meantime. Phone me if she goes home and we’ll work out guard detail around her house.”

  ***

  I couldn’t get away from Pulania fast enough. At least I’d bought myself another day to come up with a convincing set of lies.

  We followed the magikal path to the front of a herbal store in Stirling. There was no shop sign advertising the presence of a white witch, not that you’d expect any. The craft was plied in the greatest of secrecy. I’d known about this woman for years, but had never really met her. Though we aren’t really enemies, as such, dark and white witches just don’t party with the same crowds. It was useful for me to know about her, just in case, like for getting Josh cured, for instance. I’d had no need to really introduce myself, until now.

  Entering the shop a tiny bell tinkles lightly and the smell of incense hits our noses. Incense, yuck. Horrible, smelly stuff. There was no difficulty in picking out our white witch, there was only the shop keeper there. She was about forty something and was pretending to adjust some of the stock on a shelf she was standing near, but I could tell she was looking at me through the side of her eyes. I was doing the same to her, and could see an aura of white light with iridescent rays of multicolours emanating from her.

  “Ooo, pretty,” Gil says, she could see the same thing as I. Wow, she picked up on how to do that pretty quick.

  Susan’s aunt can probably see a dark aura around me. An emptiness. I notice her head jerk up a bit with what she sees, then she starts making her way toward her serving bench.

  “I invoke the covenant between us.” There’s no point in my beating around the bush.

  She hasn’t stopped moving though. Should I get my knife out? Turning back toward us, the bitch has pulled a gun from under her counter! Crap. This is the UK. Who the heck has a gun here?

  “There’s silver bullets in this, thrice blessed.”

  Shit. That could even kill me.

  “Hey, take it easy,” Gil says, “we’re just here to talk.”

  But she isn’t paying any attention to Gil, she has her attention squarely set on me. Gil’s head goes back and forth between the two of us. I’ve got my hands up in the offering of peace between us. It’s not being returned.

  “Oh, flip, like whatever, you two magikal bitches sort yourselves out. I’m checking out the store.” Gil turns away from us and starts doing just that.

  I break into a bit of a smile, and the white witch lowers her gun a nidge.

  “What’s with the gun?” I ask. “We have a covenant.”

  “The covenant has been broken,” she states flatly.

  I can see the resemblance to Susan. She has blonde hair and is quite pretty for someone in her forties. White witches have not much more than a normal life span. They can have children, dark witches can’t, we’ve given up that possibility for extended life.

  “I’m a friend of Susan’s.” I figure that’s the thing that’s going to cut me the most slack in this situation.

  “Hey, Amura, do you have any of these honey cone sheets? They’re kinda of cool.” In her own way, Gil is trying to defuse the situation.

  “Amura? I know you. You sent me that boy for a cure. I never thought a dark witch would do that.”

  “Yeah, that was me, but I’d appreciate it if you kept that to yourself. It’s not really in the dark witch repertoire of evil doing.”

  The gun is put down.

  “So you know Susan? How is she?”

  “Dying, slowly,” I answer. “She’s under our coven’s protection as part of the covenant, but someone’s given her a drug resistant form of the clap. She needs a white witch to cure her.”

  Susan’s aunt sits down behind her counter. I’ve still got my hands in the air like some stupid dork or something.

  “Hey, are we doing the blessed greeting, or what?”

  “Or what, I think.”

  I drop my hands, and I can tell you, I’m more than a little surprised.

  “Really? Okay,” I roll my eyes, “your call.”

  “Sorry, I don’t really trust anyone any more. Most of the white Fae I know are dead, and I’m pretty sure there are some other Fae who helped with that. Like I said, the covenant has been broken.” She looks at me for a bit. “You know, your aura is a bit strange,” that takes me by surprise as well, “there’s a bit of colour at the edges.”

  “What?” she’s got me panicked now.

  “Don’t worry, I would think that only a white witch could see it, you’re safe from your sisters.”

  Was I? Maybe Pulania was seeing things I didn’t know about, I already knew she had some ‘seeing’ powers that were pretty strong compared to the rest of us. Crap.

  “Hey Amura, does that mean you’re going light?”

  “Shutup,” I tell Gil. “You never heard anything about that.” I wipe the memory from Gil’s mind. Well, after all, loose lips and all that.

  Shit, this witch is playing with me. I need to get control of the conversation here or I’m not going to find out what we need to know.

  “So, how is Josh?” I ask.

  That elicits a smile. “Oh, he’s fine, a good kid, but really shy. He has a nice aura. I cured his aliment, it wasn’t much, he’ll have a better existence now though. It might help with his shyness to be rid of it.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. It might help, I’ll watch to see if there is any change, just out of curiosity.

  “Can you help Susan?”

  Wrong question to ask, her eyes are diving to the floor, and she’s shaking her head. “Susan might be marked for death.”

  “What does that mean?” I mean, I’m a dark witch, we don’t mark anyone for death, we just kill them. “Listen, there’s some very weird shit going on here, and you seem to know something about it, how about spilling the beans? Cause Susan doesn’t know, and I’m getting the sense that there is definitely a threat to the covens here.”

  I try my favorite bit of the covenant on her, “If one be taken so might we all”.

  “And so might we be.” That’s not the response I was expecting.

  She sighs, “your memories are so short. It’s because you live such long lives, you rely on your memory through life. We white Fae live only a l
ittle longer than ordinary people, so we rely on written and oral traditions, our collective memory goes back many millennia. I can see that you know the wording of the covenant… but there are older agreements by which the Fae are bound. Much older. And older creatures that hold us to them.”

  I tilt me head to the side, and seriously consider what she says, “that may be so, but what’s it got to do with Susan?” I try another tack, “what happened to Susan’s mother?”

  “Susan’s mother lives as she ever has, but the woman who raised Susan was murdered.”

  What the ficketty feck does that mean?

  “Shit, you’re going to make me tease out every detail until you make sense, aren’t you? Let me try something else here, why were you guys in a coven? We don’t think white witches do that.”

  I don’t think I’ve ever heard such an evil, condescending laugh. “You’re right, we don’t. And I disagreed with it. That’s why my sister and I fell out so many years ago. The craft is handed down from mother to daughter among us, sometimes mistress to apprentice, but nothing more. There’s only one reason white Fae band together into a coven, and that has to do with the ancient agreements, those that pre-date the covenant.”

  “Hmm, I’m starting to get a sense that this is a bit bigger than I thought.”

  “Good, maybe you’re beginning to understand it then. It is big. The coven should never have been formed. Every member is dead, except for Susan. I was never part of the coven proper, but I may not survive this either. Nor may any of the Fae.”

  “So what’s so special about Susan? Why has she lasted so long.”

  “Susan isn’t of the Fae.” Okay, she’s pausing, she’s letting that sink in a bit, I’ll bite.

  “So… what is she? She has magik, what else would she be?”

  “You could see some magik? That’s not good, that’s not good at all. It means she’ll stand out for her enemies; they’ll be able to find her. With the coven no longer able to mask her, her magik must have become visible.”

  She’s paused again. I nod toward her, hoping she’ll continue.

  “Susan is the reason the coven was formed, one of our older agreements is said to be with the earth goddess, Gaea, herself. When the earth is greatly molested, we are called upon to bring into the world a daughter of Gaea. The world will then be tested, and if need be, it will be healed. A white Fae coven is called to bring such a child into this world, and to protect her as part of a test. The coven is meant to hide her until she is fully mature.”

  “And you didn’t agree with that? It sounds like a real goodie, goodie type thing.”

  “No, the world has changed since the agreement was made, it isn’t as it was. Man is dominant over all others, even us. The daughter of Gaea was only meant to be called in times of desolation. Man has done much damage, but this isn’t a time of desolation, it is merely a time of change. Perhaps we will slide toward such a time, but it hasn’t arrived yet.”

  I’m shifting my feet, I’m sensing that this isn’t something good at all.

  “A daughter of Gaea, is a test to see if what is left of the world should be swept aside – whether to re-begin creation. I don’t care to be swept aside, do you daughter of darkness?”

  “Ahh, no.” Gil is at my shoulder now, mouth agap.

  “Such will be the case if Susan is killed. That is the test. On her death the world will be reborn, and all that is now upon it will be swept away. If she survives to her majority years, she may return to her mother and the world will continue as is.”

  “So you’re saying that Susan is some sort of apocalypse child. And if she dies, we all die. Is that right?”

  Kathleen slowly nods her head.

  Shit, what was her sister thinking? “But who’s killed the coven then, and who’s killing Susan now?”

  “I can’t tell you that for sure. There are many tortured souls in this world who could be twisted to such acts. But behind it, must be a member, or members, of one of the older races, the demons or the angels, or others as strong as they. They would survive. We wouldn’t.”

  I flinched when she mentioned angels. Not Teddy, I’m sure he wouldn’t be involved in something like this. Would he? There’s a memory of two demons eating Thomas that’s stirring in my mind too. I’ll bet anything that Susan is the innocent they were talking about.

  “If Susan is sick, you must find a way to cure her, but I cannot. Nothing a white Fae could do would help her with a human disease, it’s part of the test. You must find a cure for Susan, a human made cure. She must survive to maturity, to have a child of her own. Only then will the world be safe.”

  “So, cure the bitch with a non-existent clap antidote, and then get some bastard to knock her up. Got it.”

  Chapter 13: Feckin’ angels

  I need to see Master (Teddy) to make sure he’s not part of this. I mean, why has he been hanging around me anyway? I’m nothing special in the world of evil, doesn’t he have bigger fish to fry, or something? Is it because I go to the same school as Susan? Does he know about her?

  I deposit Gil back at her own home. She doesn’t know about Teddy, and I don’t want her to. This is my shit and it should only be me that’s up to my neck in it.

  When I want to find him, I know exactly where he’ll be. It’s a witchy thing.

  “What the ficketty feck are you doing here? We’re in the middle of a feckin’ rain forest, we must be absolutely nowhere.”

  “It’s peaceful here, besides, I knew you’d want to find me sometime soon. I figured that no one would be likely to follow you here, or spy on us.”

  Well that was true, if there was anyone nearby we’d feel them.

  “Have you ever wondered how you’re able to find me so easily, Amura?”

  “No, I’m a feckin’ witch, we do witchy stuff like that.”

  “Maybe if I was a mortal, but I’m an older being, you shouldn’t be able to sense my presence the way you do.”

  “Oh, it’s because we knock each other senseless in bed, isn’t it?”

  Why is he shaking his head and looking so sadly at me like that?

  “Hell, I didn’t come here to examine the finer points of my magikal powers. I want to know what side you’re on?”

  “What? Well I’m on the side of good. Angel, duhhh.”

  “Hmm, are you really? I wonder. Why do you hang around me so much?”

  He raises his eyebrows. “You have to ask?”

  “I mean, before that.”

  “Well, you’re in my jurisdiction, and you tend to cause a bit of evil, so I guess I hang around to clean up the messes you make for me. Nothing more than that, really.”

  “Do you know about Susan?” I wonder if I can tell if an angel is lying? Schmuck, hit forehead moment. They can’t lie. He can only mislead.

  “Yes.”

  I do a double take. Did he just give me a straight forward yes/no answer? And I think he said, yes.

  I cross my arms. “Okay mister, spill. What do you know?”

  “She’s one of the daughters of Gaea. If she dies, the world dies with her, but will then be reborn anew.” Well, that seems pretty straight forward.

  “How long have you known this?”

  “She’s been leaking earth magik for ages. I couldn’t help but know who she is.”

  “And you haven’t done anything about it?”

  “I can’t, Amura. I’m prevented from doing anything directly. It’s a test for the mortal world.”

  “Well ficketty feck, that’s a bit bloody convenient, isn’t it?”

  “Rules of the game,” he shrugs.

  Hmm, gotta think on that one for a moment.

  “Have you told anyone else about her?”

  “No. I didn’t think that was wise. Besides, I can’t tell any non-immortal. That would be against the rules as well.”

  “What about semi-immortals, like me?”

  “Nup, if you hadn’t found out yourself, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Hmm, that is
n’t wrong.

  “Wait a second, you haven’t told any immortals? Are you saying you don’t necessarily trust your own kind?”

  “Hmmm, yeah. I am. Not that an angel would be allowed to get involved, but sympathies within my kind aren’t all with the world as it is, and it would be oh so easy to let slip to one of the other immortal races. This is my turf, and I didn’t think it worth the risk of telling anyone else that a daughter of Gaea was in the world.”

  “So you don’t think another angel could know about her?”

  “If they do know, it wasn’t from me. It might have been from before she came here, but she’s really only started leaking magik in the last couple of years. She’s been here much longer than that, so I don’t see that another angel is likely to know.”

  Well that’s a bit reassuring, despite they’re being on the opposite side, I’d really not like to think of an angel being involved in the destruction of the world. It would just topple my world view. Far better to think of one of my kind being involved, that I can handle.

  “Okay. So you know Susan’s got the clap, right?”

  He sits up very straight indeed. “No, that I didn’t know. Is that recent?”

  “Yes, but how is it you don’t know? She’s on your ‘turf’, and she’s pretty important in the scheme of things.”

  He shrugs again, crap, he can be annoying at times. “I don’t keep an eye on her. As I said, I can’t intervene in any way. This is a test for the mortal world. But I’m very sad to hear that this is the case. Antibotics?”

  “It’s a resistant strain, she’s dying.”

  He forms the word ‘oh’ on his lips.

  “Hey, I get the whole, I’m an angel and I can’t intervene stuff, but maybe you can help with this. The boyfriend. He’s disappeared, and I’m not sure he was strictly human. What else has been on ‘your turf’ recently?” I emphasize the ‘your turf’ with air apostrophes.

  “Ah, now that I can help you with, provided I know one thing.”

  “And what might that be?”

  “Which side are you on?” And I can tell he’s deadly serious.

  “The side where I don’t get wiped from the face of the Earth. That seems like the best move for me. Susan’s also under the protection of the coven.”