High Witch Box Set

by Mona Hanna

  Hallie felt her heart beat faster and panic ran through her. Tears pricked her eyes, and she felt shaky all over.

  The three girls laughed, then were shortly joined by four more. “What are we doing?” one of them asked, the half-circle of people huddling around Hallie, making her feel suffocated.

  “Teasing Hallie,” Clara said. “Quick, grab her arms so she can’t magically transport away.”

  Hallie felt several hands grab her, holding her by either arm, leaving her feeling so vulnerable and threatened. She was exposed, unable to get away, unable to cover herself. She wiggled in their grasp, choking on tears and trying desperately to break free. Wetness began to run out of her nose, and all the girls laughed.

  “Poor baby needs a hanky,” one of them said.

  Hallie couldn’t even see them now, everything blurred as her tears clouded her vision. She looked down, her hair covering her, finding it hard to breathe. The laughter sounded around her, the grip on her arms tighter. She tried to scream but couldn’t. She could barely get out a whimper. She squirmed and squirmed, then felt her magic inside of her. They were right: she couldn’t use it properly. Every time she did, it went wrong somehow. But she could feel it bubbling in her stomach, threatening to come out. She wanted to cast a spell to free herself but was frightened of what would happen. She could barely think properly. All she could do was feel.

  She kept wiggling, crying, her face all wet and a tingling feeling covering her skin. She took huge, heaving breaths and her body began to spasm, her arms and legs jerking. The girls’ laughter changed to sounds of alarm, but it was too late. She couldn’t stop now. They let go of her arms but that only left them free to further the spell. Hallie looked at the group through her damp hair, hunched over, her body rigid.

  Then the power came.

  An enormous wave of energy poured out of her in a huge green light, flinging the girls across the yard, several feet away, where they lay sprawled across the ground. A couple of the girls were screaming, their legs at an odd angle, but Hallie’s power was too strong—there was too much raging inside of her to stop now. She knelt down, finally able to scream, dark grey clouds forming over the sky at a rapid pace. Flashes of lightning streaked across them and there was a huge rumble of thunder. Lightning bolts struck the dirt, making the children scream and run, but they couldn’t all escape. One was struck, then another; trees were hit, bursting into flames. Hallie hunched over on the ground, wailing, wanting it to stop. She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone. She didn’t want to hurt anyone.

  She didn’t want to destroy them.

  ***

  Hallie shot up in bed, screaming and crying, her nightmare scaring the life out of her. She started sobbing, and Sean immediately sat up and held her. He crushed her against his chest while she wailed, unable to stop the pain inside of her. The memory was so painful. It was ten years ago, but the dream brought it all back. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, Sean!” she cried. “I don’t want to be a killer!”

  “You’re not!” he exclaimed. “Hallie, you’ve never killed anyone!”

  “But I almost did!” she yelled. “Those three boys that were struck by lightning were burned so badly they’ll never be okay. And one of them can’t remember anything properly. And two girls broke their legs… Sean I can’t ever use my magic again! Ever again! I promise I’ll never use it. I can’t get too emotional. I can’t risk letting my powers out. Maybe we can’t be together like this, because my magic threatens to spill out when I’m feeling so much. I’m not allowed to feel. I’m never allowed to feel.”

  She kept crying against him, sorry she was hurting him but knowing she had to stop her emotions. Even all the crying was dangerous. She tried to control herself and sat back, gradually stopping her sobs. She took a deep breath, gazing at Sean, wondering what he was thinking. He just looked hurt.

  “Hallie, please don’t push me away again. Maybe… maybe you just need someone to show you how to control your magic. I can’t do it, but we could find someone. There was no one like that back home, but this is a much bigger town—”

  “No,” Hallie said, shaking her head. “I’m never using my magic again. I think… I need to be alone right now, Sean. I-I don’t know what I want, but I just need to be alone. Please.” She looked away, down at her hands as she fiddled with the sheets.

  He didn’t say anything, just sat there for a long while, and then he slowly got out of bed and got dressed.

  Hallie didn’t look at him, but he stood the by bed for a long time, waiting for her to look up. She finally did. Her heart broke at how sad he seemed.

  “I’m going to come back tomorrow—don’t argue,” he said. “Think about this. We don’t need to end because of your past. You can’t keep running from it, Hallie. You have to face who you are eventually.” She swallowed loudly, then turned around, waiting for him to leave.

  There was a horrible moment of silence, and then Sean walked out, shutting the bedroom door behind him. She heard him close the front door a while later. She lay down and curled up into a ball, wanting the memories to go away. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she was never going to let her magic out again. No matter what the cost.

  ***

  Hallie walked into the front room of her house a little while later after getting dressed and washing her face. It was early evening; she and Sean had only slept for a few hours before her nightmare. She sat on the settee and folded her hands in her lap, feeling empty and lost. She didn’t know where Sean was staying, so couldn’t find him even if she wanted to. She felt horrible about how they’d left things, but she was so confused and needed time to think. How could she be with Sean and still not let out her magic? What was she going to do about her power? And what was wrong with her—why couldn’t she control it? Why was her magic so dangerous? She sighed, wishing things were different.

  Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door, startling her, but she felt a sense of joy, thinking it was Sean. She hurried over to it, swinging it open.

  Nicholas stood there, smiling at her. “Hello, Hallie. May I come in?”

  Hallie slammed the door in his face. She stormed away, telling herself to calm down, but then Nicholas appeared in front of her. He’d seen inside her place—he could magically transport inside. She clenched her fists. “Get out,” she seethed. “I don’t care what you want—just leave me alone.”

  Nicholas stepped towards her, still smiling, arrogant. Then his expression became more serious, and he gazed at her, eyes narrowed. “I’ve captured your red-haired friend,” he said slowly. “He’s safe, but you need to come with me if you want him to stay that way. I’m not going to hurt either of you, but you need to come quietly.”

  Hallie stared at him, wondering if he was telling the truth. She clasped her hands together, shaking slightly. “You’ve captured Sean? Why? What do you want?”

  “You’ll find out in time. For now, I just need you to come with me. And you can’t try anything—if you hurt me, you’ll never find him.”

  Hallie took in her breath, wondering what in the world was going on. She kept shaking, her lip quivering. “What do you want with us?” she said, her voice wobbly. “I don’t even know who you are.”

  “That doesn’t matter. Hallie, it’s quite simple. Come with me now, or Sean dies. Do you want to be blamed for someone else being hurt?”

  She looked at him, then shook her head. “No,” she said weakly. “I’ll go with you. But don’t hurt him. Please.”

  Nicholas didn’t say anything, reached out, and grasped her arm. She felt a spinning sensation and then they appeared in a small room with drawn curtains and only a few candles providing light. Hallie’s eyes adjusted to the dimness, finding the room only contained a table and two chairs. Nicholas gestured for her to sit down.

  Hallie faltered for a moment, then obeyed. She took shaky breaths. Nicholas sat across from her, folding his hands on the table. She couldn’t believe he seemed so calm, so confident. But his smile was
definitely gone. His mood was darker now.

  “N-now what?” Hallie asked, when some time had passed.

  Nicholas sighed. “Now, we wait.”

  Chapter 9

  “I don’t understand. Why didn’t it work? Nothing happened.” Ariel looked up at Brayden from where she sat at the kitchen table. The potion cooled in a pot over the fireplace; a mug of it sat on the table, some of which Ariel had drunk before she cast the spell, some of it in the vial. Ariel sighed. “I focused on my type of magic when I cast the spell. I reached out in my mind, concentrating on finding someone else with the same kind of magic. But I didn’t feel a thing. Did I cast the spell wrong?”

  “I don’t know, Ariel,” Brayden said, standing beside her. “Your power is very strong—I’m sure you did it properly. Maybe… maybe you just need to try again. Maybe it will take a few tries to work properly.”

  She frowned, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll give it another go.”

  Ariel took another small drink of the potion and shut her eyes for a long time, holding the vial by a string over the map.

  Brayden watched her carefully, hoping it would work this time.

  Ariel took a deep breath, her brow crinkling, and then she settled again. Brayden waited for several moments in the silent room. Finally Ariel put down the vial and scratched her head. “Nothing,” she said, sighing. “I want to find her so badly! I’m so worried about her, just in case something’s wrong. I guess we’ll have to do what Julius did: ask around and travel until we find someone who’s heard of a witch with unusual power. It was probably too good to be true to think the spell would work, but I was so hopeful…”

  Brayden gently grasped Ariel’s arm and moved her so she was standing beside him, then put his arms around her. She snuggled close to him, leaning against him while he held her. He softly kissed her hair. She murmured something against his neck, and he smiled. “I didn’t quite catch that,” he said, kissing her shoulder.

  She lifted her head and gazed at him, her eyes full of sadness.

  Brayden’s smile faded. “What is it? Are you alright?”

  She frowned, biting her lip. “I just have a weird feeling that she’s in trouble. I don’t know if there’s anything behind it, but I feel like we need to find her quickly. I don’t know how, though. I could try the spell a few more times, but what if it doesn’t work? It could take months to find her the other way! Years, even! I’m just so…”

  Ariel’s eyes grew wide, and before he knew it she disappeared, gone from his grasp.

  Brayden whirled around, wondering what in the world just happened, then began to storm through the house. “Ariel!” he screamed. “Ariel, where are you!”

  “Brayden!” she called, and he ran into their bedroom. She was on the floor, struggling to sit up. Brayden rushed to her side, lifted her up, and placed her on the bed. He sat beside her, holding her closely.

  “The baby, she took over—I couldn’t stop her from transporting me away. Luckily it was only to here, but…”

  “Ariel, we’re binding her powers. If she took over at this stage, heaven knows what she’ll do when she’s bigger. No arguing. You need to do this.”

  “No! I can’t!”

  “Ariel! It’s too dangerous, and you know it! Listen to me, please!”

  Ariel moved away from him, crossing her arms over her chest, breathing heavily.

  Brayden ran a hand over his face, wishing she would see sense. He groaned. “This is probably distressing for her too, you know. I don’t know what a baby can feel, can sense, but this isn’t normal. It’s not right! Ariel, you can’t stubbornly stick to this notion that you’ll be hurting the child by binding her powers. You have no proof, and you’re endangering yourself! Why won’t you listen?”

  “You can’t tell me what to do! This is my decision!” Ariel cried. “I don’t want to take part of her away, because that’s not right. It’s not right to change her, maybe permanently, just because it hurts me a little! I’m not doing it, Brayden, and you can’t make me!” Ariel stood up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

  Brayden gritted his teeth and then he heard the front door slam also. Great, she’s gone. He groaned again and put his head in his hands, wishing he could take back the fight. But he felt he was right, felt Ariel should see his point of view. What if she was in danger? He could lose her, lose them both… The thought made him sick to his stomach. He had to convince her to do this before it was too late.

  ***

  Ariel stormed down the road, her fists clenched at her sides. A cold wind interspersed with drops of rain whirled around her, diminishing the effect of the warm spring evening. The air grew colder as she hurried along, the sky darker, the rain heavier—then she stopped, realizing what she was doing. She shut her eyes and took calming breaths, trying to stop the storm she was inadvertently creating. After a few moments she felt a warm breeze and opened her eyes to a clear sky. Dammit. She had to stay calm or she’d start a hurricane. Had to stay calm, because she didn’t want to stress her little girl.

  Ariel leaned against a tree by the side of the road, not understanding what was going on. She knew it was her duty to find the other High Witch, so she was upset about the spell not working, but she was so confused about what her child was doing to her. She was so happy she was pregnant, felt such love for her baby, but didn’t know how she was going to cope with the next handful of months. She knew her baby was good, knew she wasn’t trying to hurt her, but Brayden was so worried. Was she being stubborn, like he said?

  He didn’t understand, didn’t know what it had been like for her, having to keep her magic hidden all her life. Didn’t know what it had been like to have to bind her own powers in a way, to always have to hold herself back. To try not to get too emotional, denying so much of who she was for fear she would hurt someone. For fear of rejection. For so many years, she had to keep herself bottled up, and now that she was finally free—well, she wasn’t about to inflict any kind of restriction on her child. She wasn’t a fool—she knew binding the baby’s powers wouldn’t hurt her. But what if the spell couldn’t be reversed? What if she damaged her little girl forever? Stopped her from becoming who she was meant to be? What if she took away who she really was? Would she ever forgive herself? Would Erica ever forgive her?

  Then she remembered her dream-vision. Erica was sitting with her at age six, and she had her powers. She was a High Witch. And she was so sweet, so beautiful. The dream had lessened her fear that she would die when Erica was born—was the vision also telling her it would be okay to bind her child’s powers? That her daughter’s magic would be fine? Was it the ultimate reassurance?

  Ariel didn’t know, but she knew she had to go home and sort this out with Brayden. She didn’t want to argue with him. He was her love, her passion, the other half of her soul. She couldn’t be cruel to him, disregard his feelings, push him aside. They would talk about this, discuss it, and come to some kind of resolution.

  She straightened and began the walk home when an overwhelming pain entered her head, and she was brought to her knees by the scenes rushing through her mind.

  A young woman.

  A man, tied up.

  Their captor, a tall, young man, cruelty in his eyes.

  And a blinding, enormous, destructive spell.

  Ariel knelt there, panting, the vision taking her breath away. She stood shakily, trying to calm down. Taking slow, deep breaths, her mind worked to make sense of what she saw. Whatever it was, it was happening tomorrow. Whoever the girl was, she was a High Witch. But their captor… he made Ariel feel a chill in her bones. That was no ordinary warlock. He was familiar in a way she thought she’d never see again.

  He looked just like Julius.

  Chapter 10

  Hallie sat with Nicholas quietly, waiting for him to say or do something. They were still in the dimly lit room, sitting there in silent tension. There was nothing on the table save for some candles and a black leather book, its pages fa
ded and yellowed. Hallie didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to behave. Was Sean alright? Had Nicholas hurt him? What was going on?

  “Tell… tell me what you want with us,” Hallie said, her voice shaky. “It’s the least you could do. I’m here, doing as you asked. Why do you want me and Sean?”

  “It’s you I want, Hallie,” Nicholas said. “Sean is just my leverage over you.”

  Hallie felt fear run through her. What could Nicholas possibly want with her? She was no one, nothing. She cleared her throat. “And why do you want me?”

  Nicholas gazed at her with his dark eyes, his jaw clenched and his entire body tense. “I’m not going to reveal everything. Suffice it to say capturing you is a means to an end. You needn’t worry—as long as you don’t try anything, you and Sean will be safe. You’ll both be able to walk way at the end of this. That is, as long as you don’t do anything stupid and get us all killed.”

  Hallie swallowed loudly, her face burning. The horror of the nightmare she’d had only a little while ago still shook her. Nicholas had a power over her—not just having captured Sean, which made her feel sick, but he knew her greatest fear. Hurting people. She gritted her teeth, hating that he’d trapped them. She clenched her fists. “You’re the one putting us in danger, not me!” she cried. “You’re the one who’s threatening me! I don’t want to use my magic—I don’t want to fight anyone—but the longer you keep me and Sean here, the more upset I’ll get, and I can’t control my power when I get upset. You know the story, you know what happened. If I feel threatened, my magic comes out and people get hurt! Tell me why I’m here! Tell me what’s going on!” Hallie shut her eyes, trying to control the fear and turmoil boiling inside of her. A harsh wind blew around the room and the air became very cold. She looked at Nicholas, but the candles had been blown out, throwing them into darkness.