The Rising Fire (The Witch in the Woman Book One)

by Stacey Criswell

  Chapter 9:

  When I wake up the next morning, my CD is still playing. I don't really want to get up. For once in my life there is nothing to look forward to. I hope everything I very clearly remember from yesterday is all a dream. The sad part is I know it isn't. I sit up on the edge of my bed, and turn the CD off.

  "Ren?e," I hadn't even noticed Aldric sitting on the chair across from my bed. I look up at him. No words will come out of my mouth. It is almost as if I don't know how to talk; even if I try nothing will come.

  So instead he says, "I saw what happened with the boy, and I heard what Skylark's men said about the girl, Chelsea. But, you can't go to her. Chelsea is with him. I saw her go to his mansion, and pledge her life to him. Are you listening to me?"

  I had gotten to the point where he said Chelsea was with Skylark. When I find my voice I say, "Why should I believe you? Chelsea and I have been friends for seventeen years. I've known you for two days. Give me proof she is with him."

  Aldric shakes his head, "Don't be stubborn. I may not have proof, but I saw it with my own two eyes."

  I stand up, "That's not good enough! You don't make a blanket accusation like that without evidence! I won't go to him yet, but get me evidence within an hour. This should just add to the magnificent week I'm having."

  Aldric takes a deep breath with a lot of attitude. "Fine, I will find evidence, and you will owe me when I get it." He stands and goes to the window, "Are you going to be okay?" He asks in a sympathetic voice.

  I look down, "No, I'm not."

  As if reading my mind he looks at me, "Why are you blaming yourself?"

  I sigh, "I?know it was my fault. Before he died he told me about Skylark wanting me. And, that he couldn't let that happen He died, because of me."

  "I'm?sorry." He jumps out the window without another word.

  "Thanks that was so comforting." I whisper sarcastically.

  I sit back on my bed, and take a deep breath. I refuse to let my grief over take me, so I get up and go to the bathroom. I look horrible. Just like every morning when I got up since my mom and dad died I have black eyeliner streaks from my eyes to my chin. I get a rag out of the drawer and put soap and water on it, and scrub my face until all the eyeliner is off. Since I'm still in the clothes I had worn to Jacob's execution I decide I need to change. I really don't want to dress up, so I put on jeans and a black, short sleeve shirt.

  I go downstairs, and start making coffee; just waiting for whatever else life has to hit me with today. I am vaguely aware of the knocking on the door, because I just sit there staring at the coffee pot, in some sort of trance. The knocking gets louder. I finally snap out of it, and go to the door. But, I hesitate this time I'm not sure if I want to open the door, the last time I did it didn't end to well. Slowly I open it. It is Aldric, already. He has a small, frail looking boy with him. "Aldric, what are you doing?"

  Aldric pushes the boy past me into my house. "You wanted proof? Here it is." He points at the boy.

  "How is he proof? It's a kid." I ask in disbelief.

  Aldric looks at the boy, "Tell her what you told me."

  The boy glances at me, then quickly away. "Tell her about what?" He voice is shaking like he is about to start crying.

  Aldric looks at him frustrated, "About the girl, the one with long black hair."

  The boy nods, "Skylark hired me early, because the other boy's that had the job died. I heard them talking about getting rid of at least one of the siblings of Katrina. And, since she was coming to them it would be easy. Once they killed her, he could easily rule the rest of the world. I don't know who they were talking about though." He says in a scared voice. "I didn't hear any names. I didn't even think Katrina had any siblings." I glare at Aldric. I was hoping he wouldn't be able to find any proof. I don't want to believe it.

  "What's your name, and how old are you?" I ask the boy.

  "Shane and I'm ten." He says, but still refuses to make eye contact with me.

  "Okay, Shane. Aldric is going to let you go, but don't tell anyone you talked to either one of us. Okay?"

  He nods and I open the door, sending him running out scared. I look at Aldric. He smiles, "Enough proof for you?"

  I don't smile, "Yes, sadly." I go back into the kitchen and get a cup of coffee with my sugar, and sit down. "Why?" I ask. Aldric sits in the chair beside me.

  "Why is she with him? I don't know. Maybe she's assuring her life if he does try to kill off everyone. I can't read minds so I'm not sure." He says. Again I can't hold my tears back. "Don't?don't cry." He says.

  "All of a sudden, my life is falling apart. I don't know what to do about it. Usually I can stay calm, I can act tough whether I am or not. But, I can't even put on a brave face anymore."

  He sits there listening to me, "I know it's tough, but it gets easier. I promise."

  My phone starts ringing. I wipe my eyes and pick it up, "It's Michelle." I say. I push the green talk button, "Hello?"

  I can hear Michelle let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, I was just calling to let you know we got the guy who runs the cemetery to bury Jett. I'm sorry, not the best news to call with."

  "It's fine. Um, I got news that Chelsea is working with Skylark. Don't ask why. I don't know."

  "I'm not sure I understand." Michelle says.

  "She's not with us. I'm sorry. I don't want to talk about it right now. And, don't come over I won't be here."

  Michelle huffs, "Where will you be then?"

  "Around. I got to go. Be careful." Before Michelle can protest I hang up.

  Aldric raises his eyebrows, "I gather she didn't take it well."

  I shake my head. "How could she?" He nods. "Okay, let's get this over with." I say.

  "Okay, we can take my car." Aldric offers.

  I look at him confused, "You have a car?"

  "Yes, does that shock you?" He asks.

  "Well, yeah. You can run so fast I assumed you wouldn't need one." I explain.

  He grins, "I don't like to run everywhere. It's very tiring you know?"

  "I don't want to know." I say.

  We walk out onto the street, but there is no car in front of my house. "So, where is it?" I ask.

  Aldric looks down an alley way, "It's down there."

  "Oh, okay." We start down the alley way. His car is almost invisible; it is so black it blends in with the dark walls of the buildings. When I'm close enough to see the markings I notice it is a black Ford Mustang. I had always wanted one like this, but it was always too expensive for me.

  "Wow, I bet this is fast."

  "It is." He assures, as pulls his keys out and pushes a little red button on it. The doors slide out away from the car then up into the air to let us in.

  "Butterfly doors?"

  "Yeah, are you coming?" He is already in the car, as the engine roars. I slip in, it has black leather seats, and the windows are tinted so dark I can't see out of them.

  "Can you see?" I ask.

  "Yep, vampires have cat like eyes. We can see just about everything."

  We drive through town at lighting fast speed. I'm constantly pushing the imaginary brake on my side, with no luck. He slows down once he gets past the region limit.

  "Where are we?" I ask.

  "We are between Hagar and Della." He replies.

  We are on a road I have never been on before, with abandoned houses on both sides. One looks like an old farm, and I think it is also abandoned until I see an old frail looking man sitting on the porch steps. The old man's eyes follow our car never once straying. He smiles revealing sharp perfectly white teeth, and his eyes turn snow white.

  "Who is that?" I ask Aldric.

  He looks behind us then shakes his head, "That's Jason. He's what they call a shape shifter. He can alter his appearance to look like whatever, or whoever he wants. Just then he was trying to scare you." He points out grinning.

  "Great, shape shifters too. Are ghost and goblins real too?" Sarcastic. Very sarcastic. Don't say y
es...

  "Oh, ghosts are only storybook characters, but goblins there are a couple left in the world." He grins. I should have expected that.

  We pull up to a field, it's grass is all dead, and cracks under the wheels of the car. "Where are we going? There's no one here." He stops the car.

  "You're right, but we stop here." He opens his door, and gets out. I fumble with my door, but of course, I can't figure out how to open it.

  Aldric opens it, "Having trouble?" I glare at him and get out. We start walking towards the back of the field. The sun is glaring down; through my short sleeves, and jeans I can feel it burning my skin. We come to a tree line; the trees look very thick, almost impenetrable.

  "Are we going in there?" I ask.

  "Yep!" He exclaims happily.

  I sigh heavily and take the hair band off my arm and put my hair up in a bun. "Okay, let's do this."

  He grabs my arm, "We aren't walking through that. We'll go to the top of the trees and go from there."

  I laugh sarcastically, "You're kidding right? I can't climb trees. Do I look like a monkey to you?" I think about it for a minute, "You better not answer that."

  He shakes his head, "You know, you humans always have an excuse as to why you can't do what needs to be done."

  I grunt, "We do not!"

  He rolls his eyes, "Don't worry princess, you don't have to climb. I'll carry you. I'm much better at jumping trees than you are anyway."

  I raise my eyebrows about to make a snide remark back, but then realize he is probably right. "You're right, and you do look more like monkey than I do."

  He glares, and then puts his arm around my waist, "Hold on, oh and I'd close your eyes if I were you." I close my eyes as tight as I can.

  It feels like I am flying in a jet with no walls around me. I lay my head on Aldric's shoulder, I'm actually comfortable. I can hear him hitting some leaves as he goes by but none hit me. Then I feel a soft thud, and being comfortable is over. "You can open your eyes now." Aldric laughs.

  I slowly open my eyes and fall straight onto Aldric, "Little early to be hugging isn't it?" He asks me.

  "You must be dreaming." My vision is somewhat blurred, but I can see a lot of people staring at us. Some look more like animals, some look like they want to kill me, and some look like they want to hug me. I'm almost sure my eyes are seriously messed up somehow. I look up at Aldric, but he looks normal. "You okay?" He asks. I nod unsurely. The people who I thought look more like animals, are actually part animal. Some were wolves, tigers, cheetahs, lions, bears. I don't know what to say. He sees me looking at the people and says, "We call them mutants. No one knows how they came to be half man, half animal, but they can help us either way. They turn full into the animal they are when they want to. It's actually interesting to see."

  All I can do is nod. There is a group of what look like ordinary humans off to the left, "What are they?"

  He looks to where I'm motioning, "Those are shape shifters." He explains.

  "So, how did you know the one on those steps was the guy named Jason? They all could have changed into humans." I point out.

  "No, only Jason can change into humans. Everyone over there can only turn into animals." He points to a huge tent with leaves on top of it. "Let's go in there, and wait for Allison."

  The tent looks even bigger on the inside. There is a long table set for a feast. There is turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, peas, and a chocolate cake. It looks like it is a Thanksgiving Dinner. Across from the table is a big red rug that makes the tent look very elegant and a couch the same color.

  "Whose birthday is it?" I ask Aldric.

  He laughs, "No ones. We are celebrating you coming here."

  That takes me by surprise, "Oh."

  He sits down on the couch, "Please, sit." He offers. "They will be here soon. I can already hear them coming."

  I sit down beside him, "What do you mean you can hear them coming?"

  "I have vampire hearing." He explains. "So, what do you think of all this?"

  I shrug, "I don't know. I'm still trying to convince myself this is all real. I don't know if I want to convince myself really."

  He looks at me confused, "Why wouldn't you? You have a chance to save your people, and more. Skylark will take the rest of the world over if you and your sister don't stop him. You two are the only ones who can stop him."

  I nod, "I know. I got that part, but you forgot my boy friend was killed, my brother was killed, my best friend betrayed me. Those are the parts I don't want to be true."

  "I see, and what if I told you at least one of those things weren't true?" He asks and looks over at me.

  "That would be great, but since you can't let's move on."

  He shakes his head, "I can."

  I look at him angrily, "Don't lie to me."

  "I'm not." He assures me.

  "Then tell me which one's wrong."

  "Your brother is not dead."

  I stand up, "I saw him die. I saw Skylark burn him to ash. I went up to him afterwards, and Skylark practically rubbed it in my face! Don't you dare joke around about that."

  "He's not dead. That was one of our prisoners. That was the same prisoner that was at the trial. Your brother is here with us. I know you won't believe me until you see him, but he is alive."

  "Prove it to me. Bring him in here."

  "You like proof don't you?" Aldric laughs.

  "Yes I do." I glare, and sit back down on the couch beside him.

  He stands up and listens, "We have about ten minutes before Allison, and her people get here. I'll take you to him quickly." He holds back the edge of the tent for me to go through.

  Outside everyone is working on something. Someone are training, others are making weapons. "What are they preparing for?" I ask Aldric as we walk through everyone.

  "War."

  We come to a concrete building, and Aldric knocks on the door. A girl with black and purple hair answers. "Shae, where is the new boy?what's your brother's name?"

  "Jacob." I say.

  The girl's eyes light up, "Oh, he's your brother? I can so see the resemblance. Are you as rude and stubborn as him too?"

  I roll my eyes, "Well, if I had to deal with you like he does, yeah I would be. And, I guess he's not my biological brother anyway."

  Shae smiles, "I like this girl. Follow me."

  We walk down a concrete hallway. Oddly, everything is made of concrete, the doors, the walls, and there were no windows. "What is this, a prison?" I ask.

  Shae laughs, "Something like that." That's not what I had expected, of course nothing was going as I expected anymore. We stop at a concrete door, just like all the others.

  Shae knocks on it, "Hey, sleepy head, get up in there. You have visitors." I hear rustling faintly on the other side of the door.

  "Yeah, I'm coming." It is Jacob's voice, making my heart jump. The door slowly opens. When Jacob sees me standing behind Shae his eyes get big and he smiles.

  "Little sis!" He pushes pass Shae, and towards me, but the past is still fresh in my mind and I push back away from him.

  He looks down, "What are you doing here?"

  "It's a long story. How are you?"

  He smiles, "I'm good."

  "I'm glad." I mumble.

  He looks around Aldric, "Did Jett come with you?" He asks in a not so enthusiastic voice.

  I shake my head, "Skylark killed him."

  Jacob stops, "What? Why?"

  "He stood up for you at your trial."

  That takes Jacob by surprise. A woman walks between us with what looks like blood bags. Jacob grabs as many as he can and sucks them down.

  "You're a?" Okay, how much weirder could life get? Wait, forget I asked that.

  He shakes his head, "I won't hurt you. I promise."

  "You did when you weren't a vampire. Why wouldn't you now?" I accuse.

  "That was an accident." He says.

  "It was an accident?" I ask unbelievably.


  "You are the only person who can help me be happy." He lies.

  "So, I'm just supposed to let you make my life miserable, so you can be happy?" I ask.

  He is getting angry, but I know he won't do anything to me in front of Aldric. He will try to wait, and get me alone to hurt me. Aldric finally speaks, "We need to go they will be here soon. Jacob, you need to start training anyway don't you?" Jacob nods, glaring at me. "Shae you will help him." It isn't really a question more of a demand. Shae nods.