I opened my mouth to speak, but only nodded instead.
Ms. Jones raised her chin. “Good. I’m proud of you. I could see the good in you the moment that you showed up on my doorstep.”
My heart tore into two. After what I did to her, and after what she’s been through, how was she still able to be kind to me?
My lips trembled. “But you don’t even know what that choice was, and why are you still so nice to me? I got you into this mess. You’re ― You’re going to be executed.”
Ms. Jones reached through the bars and placed her hand on my shoulder. “I know what choice you made, because I know you, and you’re a good person. I was disappointed in you before, but that didn’t mean that I stopped believing in you, Beatrice.”
Tears dripped onto my cheeks before gliding down to my chin. I couldn’t remember what it felt like to have a mother, but at the orphanage, Ms. Jones was what I imagined having one would be like. It hurt that I was going to lose her, just like the last. “I am so sorry, Ms. Jones. If I could help you, then I would, but I don’t know what to do.”
Ms. Jones gave a sad smile. “I know, and it’s okay. This was bound to happen someday anyways.” She reached over and nudged my chin up. “Keep a strong chin and keep doing what you believe is right. That’s what I did, and in the end, I’m proud of what I’d done. I helped three teens get to safety, and I got the chance to get to meet two snarky, amazing children.” She pulled her hand away and stepped away from the bars. “The execution is tomorrow. Try not to be upset and just be happy that we had the chance to meet.”
“But…Ms. Jones,” my voice cracked.
Ms. Jones turned away. “Goodbye, Beatrice.”
I wiped my eyes with a sniffle before backing away and walking to the exit of the dungeon. Once I was up the last step, I tripped and fell right into Cas’ warm arms.
“It’s all my fault, Cas,” I cried into his chest. “She’s going to die, and it’s all my fault.”
Cas held me tighter. “None of this is any of your fault. You thought that you were doing good. It’s just the way of the hunters. It’s my father that’s at fault. Not you.”
I knew that what he said was right, but even still, I was the reason that Ms. Jones was here, and I was the reason that she was going to die tomorrow.
~The Hunters~
Cas teleported me outside of my apartment door while I was still crying into his chest. When I finally stopped, I sniffled and wiped my sore eyes.
“Do you want me to come in with you?” Cas asked.
I sniffled and stepped back from him. “No. I’ll be okay. I’m just going to go to bed.”
Cas reached out and tucked a few strands of my hair behind my ear. His gaze was intense, but he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Not what I wanted him to do, at least. “I wish that I knew how to fix this for you.”
I nodded. “Well, maybe when you’re king you can prevent this from happening again.”
Cas raised his chin. “I’ll do more than that. I’ll stop the hunting and give us a new purpose. A better one.”
I bit down on my lower lip and took a step towards him, but the moment my hands placed themselves over his chest, I retreated. What the hell was I thinking?
Cas’ gaze remained the same before he offered a half-hearted smile. “Just try to remember that we did something good today.”
I nodded, my eyes locking with his. “Right.”
With a sniffle, I wiped my eyes again and stepped back towards my door.
“Goodnight, Beatrice.”
“Goodnight, Cas.” I teleported inside my apartment living room.
When I turned to head for my bedroom, I noticed Bradly standing by the window while gazing out at the stars.
“Bradly?” I sighed. “What are you doing up? It’s late.”
Bradly lowered his head. “Ms. Jones. Her execution is scheduled for tomorrow.” His voice was low and sad. I had no idea that this was affecting him as much as it affected me until now. Bradly was kind of like me when it came to displaying emotion. He did his best to hide it. “Is it our faults? Because if it is…” He sighed. “I really liked Ms. Jones. She was like a―”
When he turned around, I teleported directly in front of him and pulled him into a hug. “I know.” I kissed the top of his head. “She was like a mother to us.”
Bradly cried into my chest. “I don’t want her to die.”
“I know, Brad. I don’t either. I don’t either.”
Chapter Seven: The Magic Within
Taking in a deep breath, I opened my eyes to see that it was still dark out. It felt like this night would never end, but I was alright with that. If the night didn’t end, then morning would never come, and if morning never came, then Ms. Jones would stay alive forever.
Blinking a few times, I couldn’t figure out why I was staring at my living room ceiling, or why I was even sitting on the couch until I looked down and found Bradly’s head in my lap. Right, he had cried himself to sleep, then I had fallen asleep soon after.
Shifting, I tried to get comfortable and found moving a little easier than it should have been with Bradly’s weight on me. I mean, he wasn’t a small kid, and he had a pretty big head, so I didn’t get why he felt weightless. He was practically as light as a feather.
That’s when I noticed that he wasn’t moving along with me as I shifted around to get comfortable. He was completely still under my thighs.
“What in the world?”
In my peripheral, I noticed something odd on my arm rest and turned to look. My eyes nearly shot out of my head when I noticed that I had two left arms.
A scream escaped my lips, but Bradly remained sleeping like he didn’t even hear me.
Snatching my arm away, I noticed that it was still there on the arm rest. That’s when I jumped from the couch and whipped around to find my body still sleeping on the couch with Bradly on my lap.
I frowned. “This again? What the hell is going on?”
When I remembered what happened the last time, I got on my guard and looked from left to right. If this was happening again, then maybe that hunter would come back as well, and this time I would be ready.
After a few seconds passed, when he didn’t show up, I let my guard down, and the moment I did that, a black chain whipped around me from behind and tightened, binding my arms.
Crap. I didn’t look behind me.
I tried to wiggle free of the chains, but they were too tight and locked in place.
“I must cleanse,” I heard the hunter say from behind before yanking the chain back.
The force of the pull yanked me through the air, but when I landed on my back, I landed in snow. It looked like I was back on the mountain.
Moving from side to side, I continued to try and get free of the chains. Just like the last time, my hunter powers weren’t working, so I couldn’t use anything sharp to break through them. I was basically completely freaking helpless.
“Let me go! I’m one of you! Can’t you see?” I yelled.
The hunter walked over to me and hovered at my side. His eyes were dark, completely lacking any kind of life.
“You are not one of us. You are a user of magic. Cer tar a Wonlock.” You are a witch.
“Kund cer tar a jera fon nudiot!” And you are a fucking idiot!
The hunter tugged at the chain, squeezing tighter, and I grimaced in pain, but when he raised the tip of his sword above me, it was as if my entire body went numb.
My eyes widened, and fear shot up my spine. “Wait! No! I’m a hunter!”
“Cer tar a Wonlock!”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not― I swear I’m not. I―I’m…” When I looked down at the chains wrapped around me, I noticed that they were growing colder than usual, freezing my skin. That’s when they turned into ice.
It was magic again, and I was using it. Just like a witch.
The hunter’s eyelids lowered. “Dos mus anilate da Wonlock. Dos mus cleanse.” I must kill t
he witch. I must cleanse.
I gritted my teeth. “Dos dais am t’on a Wonlock, cer nudiot!” I said I’m not a witch, you idiot!
The frozen chain cracked around me before shattering, and I rolled out of the way just before the hunter shoved his sword down into the snow where I was lying.
I didn’t know how I did it, but I was able to use my magic. Living with the hunters for so long, I never thought that I’d be able to, and I certainly never wanted to, but now that it had finally surfaced, I found myself kind of liking it. The part of me that I inherited from my mother was protecting me, so in a way, she was protecting me.
The hunter growled as he pulled his sword from the snow, then swung it at me, but I dodged backwards. When he tried jabbing the tip at me, I spun out of the way and to the side, then ran at him and threw a punch as hard as I could at his jaw.
When my fist made contact with his face, I heard a crack and was surprised that I could hit so hard, but as he fell backwards, I noticed that my fist was completely covered in ice.
The hunter crashed into the snow and dropped his sword. I was afraid that he would get back up when his face began to freeze over.
Slowly, he turned his head to face me, and the ice forming around his neck cracked and chipped. “Magic is unclean. Witches are unclean. Wizards are unclean. Beasts are unclean,” the hunter’s deep, raspy voice echoed. “All must be exterminated to cleanse the world of impurity.”
Those were his last words before he was completely frozen. A moment later, he cracked from top to bottom into nothing but chunks of ice.
I stood there panting until I noticed something flash on my right. When I turned my head, I found that it was the door from before.
As I walked towards the door, I finally caught my breath. I searched for the doorknob, but there still wasn’t one there. Not even on the other side.
“What the hell am I supposed to do?” I snapped. “Hello?” I banged on the door. It wasn’t a surprise when I didn’t get an answer. “Is this some witch trick? Is this you getting back at me Raven? Triana? Felix?” I yelled up at the door. When there was still no response, I rested my forehead against it. “Ms. Jones? What am I supposed to do?”
I kept thinking back to what the hunter was saying and it angered me at how wrong he was. I wasn’t a witch, but I wasn’t exactly a hunter either. Still, he only saw one part of me, like the other didn’t exist. Couldn’t he see that I wasn’t one, but two?
I raised my head from the door and placed my fingertips over the golden markings. “Am t’on dust a Wonlock. Am a black hud too. Am bolth.” I’m not just a witch. I’m a hunter too. I’m both.
Instantly, the marking flashed with a white light and was so bright that it momentarily blinded me, but when I was able to see clearly again, I found that I was back on the couch in my living room.
And it was morning.
Chapter Eight: The Execution
Execution day.
I had seen many executions during my time of being a hunter, but this one by far would be one of the most terrifying executions I had yet to watch. It wasn’t that they were gruesome. If anything, they were quick and clean, but it was who they were executing that terrified me.
The prisoners would stand up at the top of the palace steps outside and take King Ohauris’ sword through the back, where it sliced through their heart and killed them almost instantly. The blood was usually cleaned up so fast that it didn’t even stain the pavement, and then the execution was over, and the hunters would go back to whatever they were doing before, like it meant nothing to them at all.
Being a hunter myself, the executions really didn’t mean anything to me. Most of the time, the prisoners were traitor hunters, and before Ms. Jones and the orphanage, I looked down on those kinds of people. I felt that they got what they deserved, but now that the one being sentenced to death was someone that I knew and loved, I couldn’t fully grasp onto the thought of her being killed.
She never even made the oath as a hunter, so how could this be happening? Just because she was born a hunter didn’t mean that she absolutely had to follow our laws, did it? I had never heard anything like that before, but then again, those born as hunters always made the oath.
Thousands of hunters gathered in front of the palace dressed in their black cloaks with their hoods down. I stood on the right side of the steps, facing them with Bradly, Cas, Willow, and Ariqe while King Ohauris stood waiting for Ms. Jones to be brought outside.
Bradly was panting with sweat beads forming over his temples. He looked like he was going to be sick, and I was afraid that he was, but when he raised his chin and straightened his shoulders, I was back at ease for a moment.
When the hunters started raising their weapons while chanting traitor in hunters’ tongue, Bradly, me, Cas, Willow, and Ariqe each turned to see Ms. Jones being led out by guards.
My heart sank at the sight of her. The woman that once always had her hair neatly brushed back, wore expensive clothing, and had beautiful glowing skin now looked like someone I could barely recognize.
Ms. Jones was still covered in muck with dirt smudges on her face, and her hair was now free from its bun and hanging down to her shoulders. All that still resembled her were her fierce brown eyes. She didn’t even look afraid as she walked towards the king with her chin held high.
“Rotrait! Rotrait! Rotrait!” the hunters chanted.
Cas took a deep breath, and Bradly slapped his hand into mine, squeezing tight. When I turned to look at him, his lips were parted, his eyes wide, and his chest heaving.
“It’ll be okay, Bradly. Just…stay strong,” I whispered between strained breaths. I was trying to be strong for him and Ms. Jones, but I could feel myself crumbling on the inside, and eventually, that would show on the outside.
Bradly’s eyes went back and forth from me to Ms. Jones. “But…but…she ― and King Ohauris―”
I squeezed his hand. “She’s being strong, so we have to be strong too.”
Bradly clenched his teeth, trying to keep his lips from trembling. “We can’t just let him…”
“We have to.”
But do we really? Isn’t there anything we can do?
When Ms. Jones was down on her knees facing the crowd with her back to the king, the hunters stopped chanting and lowered their weapons, then pulled their hoods over their heads. Seconds later, each of their black stripes appeared in the center of their faces, and their eyes went black.
King Ohauris stood tall behind Ms. Jones while facing his followers. He only glanced at us before speaking. I was surprised to see Cas’ fists balled at his sides.
“We are gathered here today for the execution of a traitor who harbored witches in her home, and upon trying to capture those witches she killed two of our own and helped those witches escape!” He held his hand out with his palm facing upwards where a golden sword appeared in his grip. “For her crimes, she will be sentenced to death!”
The hunters cheered and chanted. “Rotrait! Rotrait! Rotrait!”
My heart pounded in my chest, causing it to ache, especially when the king raised his sword over Ms. Jones’ back with both hands. I wanted to do something to stop him, but there was nothing that I could do, and if I interfered, Bradly and I would both be branded as traitors and executed. Especially since we had magic inside of us. We weren’t the most popular pair, but because of the king, no one dared to mess with us. I couldn’t put my little brother in danger, but I had to do something. There had to be something that I could do. Ms. Jones was like a mother to me, and she was about to be killed right before my eyes.
King Ohauris’ gaze grew cold. “May you be loyal in the next life.”
I gasped when he thrust his sword downwards, then my eyes began filling with tears. It was too late to do anything now. This was it.
“No!” Bradly yanked his hand from mine and raised his palm towards the king.
My eyes weren’t fully comprehending what they were seeing, but my senses could feel the
heat, and that heat was coming from fire.
Fire that Bradly was creating.
The king’s eyes widened, and right before his sword penetrated Ms. Jones’ back, he turned it sideways to block the blazing fire that Bradly shot from the palm of his hand.
When his fire finally died down to nothing, Bradly held his palm upwards. “It worked. It really worked.”
“Wornlock!” someone yelled from the crowd.
My eyes widened along with everyone else’s. “Bradly, what did you just do?”
Bradly and I both swallowed when our eyes met the kings. His sword was only lowered just enough for him to see us. He looked slightly hurt at first, but he wasn’t one to dwell on attachments. A traitor was a traitor. He’d execute us just like he executed his own wife.
“Cer rais flon ceror magick nos ma!?” You dare use your magic on me!? When he took a step in our direction, Cas immediately stepped in front of me.
Willow and Ariqe both faced us as their enemies.
The king snarled. “I gave you a place to live. I fed you and clothed you, and you do this!?”
Neither of us had anything to say.
Cas raised his hands. “Father, please. They are still attached to the prisoner. They―”
“Quiet!” King Ohauris snapped. “Before you end up being executed along with them.”
I gasped and stepped back into Bradly, shielding him. “King Ohauris, please. He didn’t mean to.”
King Ohauris’ frown deepened. “I should’ve never let you abominations live. Half breeds like you should never be allowed to exist. I’ll remember that for the next time I come across a pair of your kind,” he spat.
“Anilate da Wornlock!” someone yelled from the crowd.
King Ohauris clenched his teeth. “Willow, Ariqe…kill them.”
My eyes went straight to Willow’s. She didn’t really look all too pleased by his order, but she wasn’t going to disobey. That would make her a traitor.
“Willow,” I cracked.
Willow’s bow and arrow appeared in her hands, and she raised it pointed at me with hesitation. “Dammit, B.”
The Hunters Page 4