Wicked Folk

by Jamie McFarlane

  "Why not?" Willum asked. "Do you not believe that the truth shall set you free?"

  "I thought we agreed; we weren't going to talk about this," Thea said.

  "Embarrassment is not becoming of you," Willum said. "Where is my devil-may-care warrior? Is it possible you've developed feelings for the wizard?"

  "You're such an ass," she retorted.

  Willum threw back his head and laughed loudly. "I prefer goat." He snorted at his not-so-hidden reference. "I’m surprised you never figured it out. For a wizard, you're easily manipulated by guilt. Did you never once wonder what was within you that would cause such damage without your intent?"

  He watched me, waiting for me to reply.

  "Oh, hell's gates," he said. "Thea spelled you, you big dolt. She was trying to take from you and you fought back."

  "There was no fight," I said, then turned to Thea. "What could you take from me?"

  "I blame your mother," he said. "She really did you up with that memory spell. I thought it'd work to our benefit, but your subconscious fought back. And what the hell do you think we'd try to steal? Your good looks?"

  "My magic," I answered feebly.

  His eyes widened in disbelief. "I rarely find it appropriate to use curse words, but could you be more dense? Of course, your grace-damned magic."

  "Maybe it's because you suck at cursing," I said.

  "Respect!" The younger guard demanded, landing a blow with his night stick against my back, causing me to fall forward.

  "Adoloret!" I pointed my hand at the guard behind me, but nothing happened.

  "Mr. Barnes, there is no need for violence," Willum said calmly. "The wizard and the Lady are our guests. Perhaps you should remove yourself so as not to be a further distraction."

  "Yes, Master," he replied.

  "What do you want from us, Willum?" I asked as Gabriella helped me stand back up.

  "Tell me why you've been consorting with the FBI. They are such a pain."

  Before I could answer, he continued. "Don't deny it. I suppose they're upset at the loss of their agents. Couldn't be helped. As for what I want with you, it is the same thing I want with the Applebaum child, although I'd hoped to grow that one a tad more. Can't be helped, though. Must make hay while the sun shines. I'm sure Althea would quite enjoy a chance to rectify past failures."

  "To take my magic?" I asked. It hadn't been lost on me that he'd referred to the loss of multiple agents.

  "Precisely. But I believe you'll give it to me quite willingly," he said.

  "You're nutters."

  He turned his hand over, forming a claw, pointed skyward, and incanted something. The evil of the spell gathering around him was palpable even without my wizard's sight. When he turned his claw toward Gabriella, she shrieked in agony, her back arching as she rose from the ground.

  "Scutum," I attempted to cast a shield spell and failed. My rings weren't just exhausted; they'd been dispelled in the toilet-water saline bath. A flicker of the spell attempted to ignite and I forced my thoughts down into the ground, only to be met with a layer of putrescent energy that had been woven beneath the dark church.

  "Oh, you are a sumptuous one. Beautiful," he cackled over Gabriella's screams of agony. "I'd forgotten how I enjoy the taste of the light witches. And a believer to boot."

  "Stop!" I yelled.

  "I don't know if I can," he said. "She's so lovely."

  "Stop! Whatever you want. I'll do it," I said.

  "Drat," he said after a few more seconds, lowering his arm and allowing Gabriella to fall back to the ground. I rushed to her and pulled her into my lap, cursing myself for bringing us into this beast's den.

  "Take them to the cell." Thea fired off the order to the remaining guard. "I'll assemble the church."

  "Not tonight, the moon is still gibbous. Three nights hence will be fine, you can arrange to have them taken to the Cathedral in the morning," Willum said.

  "Is your soul dead?" I asked, looking at Thea, the depth of her betrayal finally sinking in.

  "Lock them in the tower then and take his rings," Thea said, ignoring my chastisement. "Make sure to set the bar; our wizard can manipulate simple locks."

  The remaining guard thumped me painfully on the shoulder. "Let's go."

  I helped Gabriella to her feet. I wasn't about to ask how she felt as tears streamed down her face. I wanted to lash out, but my offensive capabilities had been literally flushed down the toilet.

  "Arrange to bring the Applebaum girl at the same time," Willum said before we were out of earshot.

  The cell was in the church's tower, up two flights of stairs. Each step was agonizing for Gabriella, so I resorted to carrying her. While she was light weight, it was an arduous task. The cell was an eight by eight room with a high barred window that had a view of the night sky. A cot with a thin mattress; the only furniture in the room.

  "Jewelry in the bowl," the guard demanded. "We'll know if you're holding back. I'd hate to have to use the stun-gun on you, but I will. If you behave, I'll bring water later on. "

  Classic carrot and stick. I pulled my rings and bracelet off. I hated letting them go, not because they had any magical value left in them, but because of the sentimental value I held for them. That said, I wasn't about to get Gabriella hurt again.

  "And the girl," he said.

  "What? Her jewelry is useless," I said.

  "Is that the conversation you want to have?" he asked, placing a hand on the handle of his stun-gun.

  "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to cross a wizard?" I asked.

  "Dark Folk have been looking after ourselves for centuries. We don't fear the likes of you," he said. "Now do what I said or I'll taze you, just as sure as I'm standing here."

  "No. I'll get it," I said and picked up Gabriella's hand. On her right hand she wore her grandmother's wedding ring. It was simple, a rhodium-plated band lacking even a diamond, but it had immense sentimental value. On her left, she wore a couple of rings I wasn't familiar with. I pulled off the rings while palming the wedding band. I made a show of dropping all but the wedding ring into the bowl and handed it back.

  "Place the bowl outside the door." I did as I was required, after which he placed a plastic bottle of water on the floor. "Take the water and back off. I'd go easy on the water though. It's the last you'll get until tomorrow."

  I watched as the door swung closed. The sound of something heavy scraping against the thick wooden door confirmed their commitment to locking us in. Gabriella stirred and tried unsuccessfully to lift herself from the mattress. I went to her and helped her up, sitting next to her. She lay heavily against me as I placed her grandmother's ring back on her finger and pulled her in tightly.

  "Do you suppose this is what Madam Celise saw in her glass ball?" I wondered idly, smoothing her hair with my fingers. I watched in surprise when all at once her hair turned a silvery gray as she nodded off into unconsciousness.

  I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff

  I sat for about an hour, mostly in shock, I suppose. I'd never felt as useless as I did at that moment. Without my charged jewelry, I had few spells that would work against the guards. I couldn't imagine how I'd combat Willum, especially if he were able to lift me with the same strength he'd used on Gabriella. As far as I could tell, he hadn't even struggled.

  I cast my wizard's sight and was surprised to see that the stone cell was mundane and completely devoid of what I assumed was Willum or the ghrelin's energy. It made sense. While demons were extraordinarily powerful beings, a ghrelin wasn't at the top of that food chain. A ghrelin would have to build energy over time and conserve its use if it was going to maintain a matrix like the one I'd found beneath the church.

  It was sometime around midnight when Gabriella stirred. She'd been sleeping fitfully and I finally heard her inhale deeply right before she sat bolt-upright, looking around wildly.

  "Silici Scintillam Excudit." A small ball of flame ignited, hovering above the palm of my hand. A moment later, the ghostl
y outline of a lantern formed around it. The outline was something I'd been experimenting with and I might have taken more pleasure from it appearing if we weren't in such a grim situation.

  "Where are we?" Gabriella asked.

  "Locked in a tower by an evil witch," I said.

  She looked at my face to see if I was seriously cracking wise. "Smartass," she said. "My body aches all over."

  I used my free hand to pass her the water bottle. "Drink something."

  She opened the bottle and took a generous swig, wincing as she swallowed. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

  "I've been thinking about that," I said. "Can you walk?"

  "Walk? Yes," she said and then dropped her head into her hands. "It was horrible, Felix. I felt like my soul was being torn apart. Every fiber of my body was on fire. It was agony and all I could think about was how I had failed you and Clarita. It felt like nothing in the world would be right again."

  A dark shape fluttered across the window, interrupting the bright moonlight that shone in.

  "I'm sorry," I said. "I wish I'd never brought us to North Carolina."

  "And what of Petaluma and Tobin?" she asked.

  "How could you have heard that? He was … You know …"

  "Torturing me," she filled in. "His words were as clear as if I were sitting next to him at mass. His intent was even more clear. He plans to torture and kill those kids and more, Felix. His church. This church is a death cult. He plans to murder everyone."

  "How can you know that?" I asked.

  "I felt him in my head, Felix. We shared space and time together," she said. "He wanted me to know what he has planned. I've seen what he's done to other people, not just in this life, but in other times and places. He's growing more powerful with every kill."

  "What is Lace Faa to him?"

  Gabriella shook her head and looked at the floor. "I don't know. He didn't care to share that with me."

  "You're not alone, Gabriella. People care about you. I care about you."

  "When he was attacking me, I felt nothing but despair. I was paralyzed by it," she said.

  The moon beams were once again broken by something flying across the window and I extinguished the flaming ball we were using for light.

  "What was that?"

  "Hope," I said as a familiar raven landed carefully on the windowsill and wriggled through the bars. I held my arm up for a landing pad as Maggie glided over to us.

  "I thought you were an owl," Gabriella said.

  "Cawwk," Maggie replied, annoyed. She couldn't answer complex questions in her current form.

  "Can you find the Suburban and bring it back up here?" I asked. "I think I can get us out, but it's going to make a lot of noise."

  Maggie nodded her head up and down.

  "Aren't you worried about Willum?" Gabriella asked.

  "If we fail, Maggie will have to get help," I said, lifting her back up to the window sill.

  "What are you going to do?" Gabriella asked.

  "Make a mess," I said.

  Gabriella nodded and looked at me expectantly.

  "I need to move the cot over so I can see when Maggie is coming up the hill. She might draw a crowd, since there are a few fences between here and there," I said.

  "Can she even drive? Hasn't she been a crow most of her adult life?"

  ***

  "Shit. We're on," I said, standing on the cot and peering out the window. Fortunately, the tower had good line-of-sight to the village below.

  Our concerns regarding her driving skills hadn't been entirely unfounded as soon I saw headlights bumping up and the scream of an engine working too hard in too low of a gear for its speed.

  I sat down on the floor and closed my eyes. "Hold the mattress over us and watch for falling objects."

  "What are you doing? And don't say making a mess."

  "You know when I said an evil witch locked us in the tower and you thought Rapunzel? Think more like three little pigs," I said.

  I reached out to the stones around me. Being an earth wizard, I had a special bond with natural building materials and nothing was more natural than a stone tower. Even the mortar was just a blend of sand, cement and lime. It seemed an obvious mistake, but then not even Gabriella knew where the source of my magic emanated from. It was a lesson I would remember forever. Had I told Thea about my bond with the earth, she would not have made the mistake of putting us up here. No wonder wizards worked hard to keep their secrets.

  Unbinding the mortar was a simple matter, although at first, it seemed to do nothing beyond cause the building to shake and plaster dust to fall from the ceiling. The tower had been well constructed and the stones lined up nicely, one on top of the other.

  "I hear someone outside," Gabriella whispered, harshly.

  I pushed at the stones beneath the wall that separated us from our guard. Contrary to scientific belief, systems aren't always as easily transitioned from order to chaos as the fourth law of thermodynamics might suggest. That said, the notion of a tipping point was something I could easily embrace. I concentrated on the wall until I'd managed to wiggle free a key block from beneath us. The trick was to collapse only the parts of the building that would allow our escape, while keeping the roof from falling in on top of us.

  "What's going on in there?" I heard through the door. Until that point, I hadn't realized someone was standing guard and I suspected he'd been sleeping.

  "Who are you, what are you doing here?" He asked, obviously surprised. "How'd you get in here? What … No …" The rest of his speech a wet gurgling. Someone or something had gotten to him and it was to our advantage.

  The wall I'd been working on sagged and then crumbled onto the stairs below, taking our cell door and most of the wall it had been attached to with it. We found ourselves staring at the guard, who lay against the outer wall, one hand still on his stun-gun, the other grasping at his throat which had been viciously torn open. We were still far from free, so I forced my eyes away and continued to push at the base of the wall. After what seemed like ages, I managed to free an exterior block, and then another from the level below. Soon the outside wall began to crumble and the floor beneath the dead guard gave way. He tumbled down, landing on a pile of stone below.

  "Now," I said. "We go now!"

  I stood, grabbed Gabriella's hand, and pulled her up. The two of us carefully picked our way through the shifting cascade of ruined stone blocks and over the fallen guard. We weren't very far off the ground when we reached open air and saw the Suburban. The problem was that my naked sister, Maggie, was exiting the driver's side, hands up, in front of the guard, Barnes.

  "On the ground," he ordered, pulling handcuffs from a pouch on the back of his belt.

  "Ground this!" Gabriella exclaimed as she stepped forward and fired off the guard's stun-gun I hadn't seen her pick up. The familiar click-click-click of capacitors discharging was followed by Barnes going stiff as a board and falling to the ground.

  "About time," Maggie said, running back to the Suburban and diving into the driver's seat.

  "Get in back," I shouted, as I piled in behind her and Gabriella yanked open the passenger door.

  "Go! Go!" Gabriella shouted unnecessarily, as I threw the truck into gear and stepped on the gas, swinging the tail around.

  If I'd been thinking, it might have been quicker to find a way out on this residential side of Eppy Faire. No doubt, the village had an entrance for residents. In my mind, however, all I knew was the exact route we'd come in and I was in no mood for improvisation.

  "Over there," Maggie squawked in my ear, pointing at a section of chain link fence she'd already run through. I swung the vehicle to the side and gunned it.

  "Is anyone following us?" I asked.

  Gabriella turned around and looked. "I don't know. I can't see anyone."

  We bumped violently over cement parking strips and back into the Faire's mostly empty parking lot. There was a booth ahead, but for those exiting, there were no obstru
ctions. I didn't breathe easy until we finally made it out onto the main highway.

  "How did you destroy the tower?" Gabriella asked.

  "Let's say I don't like tight places and keep it at that," I said.

  "Guys, I need something to eat," Maggie complained. I hadn't looked at her since we'd started our pell-mell race from Eppy Faire. In the rearview mirror, her skin was tightly stretched and every bone in her face and shoulders was prominently visible. "I think I changed too quickly. And what the hell happened to your hair?"

  "Trail mix in the camping bag," Gabriella said, ignoring the question as she climbed over the seats.

  "Sports drink in the cooler," I said, thinking about the problem of delivering quick calories. I found a lane to pull the truck into where we'd have some cover in the trees. I jumped out and opened the back door, horrified by Maggie's quivering, emaciated form. "She's going into shock. Stay with us, Maggie."

  "Just need food," she mumbled.

  Gabriella handed me a bottle of red electrolyte-rich water and I lifted it to Maggie's mouth. She drank greedily and then coughed a portion of it back out as she was unable to negotiate both her breathing and drinking.

  "Blanket." Gabriella handed me a light quilt she'd brought along. I was shocked at how easy it was to lift my tiny sister from the seat and wrap the blanket around her.

  "Did we get away?" Maggie asked, eyes rolling around in her head.

  "You saved us, Maggie, but now you need to stay with us," I said.

  Gabriella handed me a bag of trail mix. "Why did she change from the owl?"

  "I don't know," I said, unsure if she'd be able to eat the trail mix in her current state. "Do we have anything softer?"

  "Owls are pretty," Maggie mumbled as she ripped the trail mix from my hand and sloppily pushed it into her mouth.

  "Tamale? It's been thawed, but it's mostly frozen," Gabriella said, handing a corn-leaf wrap to me.

  "Adoloret." I pushed a small amount of heat into the tamale and held it out to Maggie. This time she opened wide the second it came into contact with her tongue.