Blood Creek Witch

by Jay Barnson

  He was dying. Evelyn had hit him with at least a half-dozen lethal curses, any one of which his natural resistances might have allowed him to shrug off. Combined, they were killing him, and the idea didn’t sound so horrible. Dying would make the pain go away. But what about the others? Did he have anything left to protect the others?

  Ten more feet passed by inches. He could no longer hear the bellowing and giants chasing his friends in the forest. Was he the last one left alive, or were his ears swollen shut?

  In his dim, swimming vision, he found the spot where they had hidden the buried charm. He crossed two feet of the remaining distance before his eyes sealed closed. He pushed, feeling burning liquid inside his lungs.

  With a final push, he collapsed on the trail. It was time for death to claim him, and Jack felt ready.

  But the pain began to recede, as if it was all draining out of his body into the dirt. With effort, he opened his eyes, and inhaled a little more easily with one breath than the last one. The sensation of spinning shallowed. He’d made it over the concealed charm, the one that was supposed to break Evelyn’s control over the giants. She’d cast no such spell, and the charm had never triggered, until Jack crawled over it laden with a half-dozen curses.

  He tried to stand, but only managed to get himself up to a kneel. The curses may have been removed, but enough of their effects remained and he was exhausted. Vertigo and exhaustion knocked him back down, and he felt himself sliding down the incline head first. Jutting roots and saplings slowed his descent and spun him sideways until he came to a stop several yards down, half-buried in weeds and decaying leaves. He tried to crawl back up the slope, but the trivial incline might as well have been Mount Everest in his current state. His eyelids drooped. He’d try again when he woke up. If he woke up. Either way, he’d given it his best.

  Sean hid behind a tree, crouched in the towering underbrush, as one of the giants approached. It sniffed the air, and bared its jumbled teeth. Sean silently nocked an arrow and drew halfway back on the string. If the giant came for him, it was going to leave with some pain to remember him by.

  Suddenly, the giant turned and ran in a different direction. The temporary reprieve didn’t fill Sean with any relief. It probably meant the giant had caught the scent of one of his friends, assuming any of them were still alive. For the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, he mentally kicked himself for shooting at Evelyn. He couldn’t think of a better solution, but his arrow had started the fight against impossible odds. Now his friends were scattered and being hunted down by Evelyn and her giant allies, and all he’d accomplished was to half-blind one of the giants.

  Something hit the brush beside him. Sean pulled back and nearly let the arrow loose before seeing the head of a black panther. “I hope you’re Jessabelle,” he said, as he lowered the bow.

  The panther flicked its ear and turned away from him. Sean returned the arrow to the quiver and grabbed the short sword beside him. He crept behind the panther, who led him to a hiding place just near the magical crossroads. Jenny was already hidden there. She placed her finger to her lips and pointed toward the clearing. Sean poked his head over the brush to see what she was pointing at.

  Evelyn stood with two giants in the clearing. One held a club. The second was bare-handed, covered in mud and smeared with blood. Sean recognized it as the partner of the giant he’d stabbed in the eye. Evelyn was bloodied as well, her ripped clothing attesting to Jessabelle’s ferocity. Sean couldn’t help but smile. Evelyn didn’t seem wounded now, as she communicated instructions to the giants. Most importantly, she carried Annabelle’s bag over her shoulder.

  One of the giants turned and looked in their direction. They ducked down below the rise.

  “She’s got Annabelle’s witch-bottle,” Sean whispered.

  Jenny’s eyes grew wide. “I bet she’s going to seal the other side and trap us here!”

  “Why?”

  “So we can’t escape the giants, maybe? To make sure she has control over it.”

  Sean frowned. “What do you think she promised the giants? Us?”

  Jenny glanced down at Jessabelle. “Are Jack and Grandma okay? Do you know where they are?”

  Jessabelle half-nodded, speculatively.

  Sean pulled an arrow out of the quiver and nocked it. “Maybe she hasn’t had time to restore her protection spell. Get ready to run for it.”

  Jenny opened her mouth, and then closed it. “Don’t miss,” she whispered.

  Sean poked his head up out of the brush again, bow readied. But Evelyn had already vanished.

  He ducked down again. “Crap! She’s already crossed over. We need to go through before she seals it.”

  “How?”

  “Do you know any more spells, like that one Evelyn uses to hide?”

  Jenny shook her head. “I have no idea how to do that. There’s only one spell that I’m really good at.”

  “How much time do we have before she can seal the gate?”

  “It took her maybe four minutes last time.”

  “Then there’s no time to waste. Get ready to run for the path. I’ll cover you.”

  “How?”

  In response, Sean again raised his bow and rose over the concealment of the brush. The giants still hadn’t noticed him.

  “Don’t be stupid!” Jenny whispered.

  “Too late!” Sean muttered as he let the arrow fly. In spite of his best efforts, the arrow missed altogether, flying past the giant’s head. The arrow struck leaves and a distant tree behind them with a loud thunk. Both giants turned to investigate the sound, turning their backs to Sean and the girls and pushing deeper into the forest.

  Sean lowered the bow calmly as if the result had been his plan all along.

  “Let’s go,” he said and grabbed the sword off the ground.

  Jessabelle easily outdistanced them both. She had just disappeared several yards ahead of them when the giants returned, pointing and bellowing. Sean and Jenny didn’t slow their pace. Beside him, Jenny disappeared.

  Looking down, he caught the faint glimmer of light indicating a trail that wasn’t physically there. He corrected his course, and ran straight at the giant with the raised club. He leaped forward as the club came smashing down…

  … and landed in a shallow puddle of the pond. Just ahead, Jessabelle crouched in front of Evelyn, who kept Jessabelle at bay with another knife. Both were bloodied with recent, shallow cuts. After a moment’s hesitation, Sean raised his sword in front of him, trying to position himself opposite Jessabelle. Evelyn turned to keep them both in view. Sean readied a blow for the moment Evelyn looked like she was trying to cast a spell.

  Jenny strolled more casually between Jessabelle and Sean, staring down her enemy with an intensity that surprised Sean. “It’s over, Evelyn,” she said. “Put the bag and the knife down, and we won’t hurt you.”

  Evelyn snorted. “Really? Because Thadeus will kill me for failure, and send someone else to take my place. You kids lose either way. I’m the only one likely to give you an ounce of mercy.”

  “Why doesn’t Thadeus just come here and take care of it all himself?” Sean demanded.

  “He can’t. He’s in exile. He can’t cross over yet, and so he leaves that to us. But here, if you get on his radar and cross him, he’ll snap your neck and turn your skull into a breakfast bowl.” She looked significantly at Jenny. “You and anyone you love. You’re better off taking your chances against the giants, believe me.”

  Sean had been ready to shoot her a moment ago. It was different standing here with a sword. It was personal. She’d been trying to kill them all day, but now, he wasn’t sure he had it in him.

  Evelyn looked past Jenny, and then smiled. “Well, it looks like you don’t have to make a decision after all.”

  Sean couldn’t help but look. Evelyn wasn’t bluffing. Two giants appeared a few feet away, bewildered by the change in the scenery.

  Against the giants, Sean didn’t hesitate. His eyes seemed
to fill with red as he charged forward—once again toward the giant with the club. The giant hesitated before raising his club, and Sean plunged the blade with both hands into the creature’s lower belly. The blade sank in nearly to the hilt, but once there, Sean couldn’t move it. He gripped the sword as tightly as he could and tugged sideways, but it barely moved.

  He was too close for the giant to hit him with the club. The giant swatted him bare-handed instead. Sean felt at least one bone crack from the impact. His other arm, the one that somehow still held onto the sword hilt, felt like it had pulled completely out of his shoulder socket as he crashed into the shallow, slimy puddle, staring up at the cloudy sky above.

  The giant roared and took steps toward him, raising the club with both hands over his head. Sean tried to move, but neither of his arms would work. He pushed against the muddy ground with both feet to try and slide away.

  Blood poured from the giant’s belly into the water, and the creature doubled over in pain. It collapsed into the mud, inches away from crushing Sean’s legs.

  Sean’s attempt to stand shot excruciating pain through his right arm. He let go of his sword. The blade sank into water about an inch before coming to rest on the mud. He lifted his head to see what was going on, but the dying giant blocked his view. Once again, he was entirely helpless.

  Sean and one giant lay on the ground, both badly injured and possibly dying. Jessabelle attacked the unarmed giant like an angry housecat against a full-sized human, but full of purpose and legitimate fury. It was enough to taunt the giant into chasing her. Whenever it turned back, Jessabelle sprang at it, tearing at the flesh of its ankles.

  Jenny and Evelyn stood facing each other. Evelyn held the knife with confidence and trained ease, in spite of the fresh red claw marks along her arm. “You don’t have your little protective spell up this time, do you?” Evelyn taunted.

  “Who says I don’t?”

  Evelyn shouted something that sounded far more like Latin than Spanish. With her free hand, she raised a glass container and sprayed an aerosol at Jenny that smelled of vanilla and alcohol. Jenny sneezed as some of it got in her nose, and backed away before Evelyn followed through with a slice of the knife. A faint electric glow around her surged and faded.

  Evelyn cackled, then staggered. She righted herself. “I say.”

  “You look like you’re about to fall over,” Jenny taunted back. “I’ll bet you overspent yourself.”

  “I still have enough to kill you, but I’d just as soon let the knife do the job. By the way, that was a ruthless work of genius disguising your friend as you. I sank a lot of juice into killing him. He died in horrible pain, but it was a viciously clever move on your part.”

  Jenny frowned. That ruthless move had been Jack’s idea. “If so, that’s one more death you’ll pay for.”

  “I’m seeing a lot of deaths that shouldn’t have happened. Sean’s probably dead. Your grandmother is all alone right now against four giants, so they’ve probably torn her to pieces. And Hattie’ll have to plan your funeral too.” Evelyn lunged forward again, slashing the air as Jenny dodged.

  Jenny backed away, splashing through mud as Evelyn attacked with quick stabs and slices. Sooner or later, Jenny would make a mistake, and Evelyn would connect. After the first blood, the next would come faster. There was only one way this would end. Both Jenny and Evelyn knew it.

  Jenny began the protective song, with no intention of completing it. “Angels surround me, angels protect me, angels enfold me…”

  Evelyn snarled. “No you don’t!” she shouted as she lunged forward.

  Jenny was ready. A hundred self-defense lessons took over. She danced outside the strike, catching Evelyn’s wrist with one hand. She stuck her leg behind Evelyn’s knees and chopped Evelyn’s throat with the side of her other hand. Evelyn fell backwards, and Jenny used the momentum to twist her wrist until the knife fell. Then she was on top of Evelyn, pounding at her with knees and fists and elbows until the woman no longer resisted.

  Jenny stood, shaking, and recovered the fallen knife. Evelyn’s face was a bloody mess, and she didn’t move. Basic, animal urges pushed Jenny to drive the knife into Evelyn’s still-breathing chest, but Jenny resisted. She hated and feared the woman, but couldn’t bring herself to kill her fallen opponent.

  Instead, she circled the dying giant to check on Sean.

  Sean stared at her, wide-eyed, lying in an inch-deep puddle of blood and muck. “You did it? Is she dead?”

  “No. Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know. I think I’ll live, but I can’t get up.”

  A woman’s voice spoke. “He’s got a small fracture of the left ulna and a couple of cracked ribs, I think. Also, his right shoulder is dislocated.”

  Jenny and Sean both stared at the source of the voice. The figure was transparent, but clearly the woman in Annabelle’s old pictures. It was the girl who had warned Jenny the night Evelyn and the ogre smashed up Hattie’s home.

  “Debbie?” Sean asked. “You’re here!”

  “It’s harder in the daylight. But you need me. Jenny, you need to pop his arm back into his shoulder socket.”

  Jenny looked at her curiously, as Debbie’s ghost crouched and pointed to the swelling lump below Sean’s shoulder. “There,” the ghost said, and looked at Jenny. “I went to school to learn nursing. But this part I learned to do this helping my brother, Caleb.”

  Jenny stepped around Sean, her feet squishing in the mud, and knelt in the blood-clouded water near Sean’s shoulder. “Get behind his shoulder, and very gently pull the arm toward you.” Debbie’s ghost continued the instructions, and Jenny followed as best as she could. Jenny shoved, and Sean winced and grunted as the shoulder visibly shifted in the water.

  “I think that did it,” Sean said as he tentatively shifted his weight and rolled into a sitting position.

  Jenny turned around to thank Debbie, but the ghost had vanished. She stepped out of the water and approached Evelyn cautiously. The witch still appeared unconscious. Jenny reached down to pick up Annabelle’s bag where Evelyn had dropped it, and paused as the sun glinted on something else. She bent down and picked up what seemed like a perfume container. She held it up for Sean to see. “Do you know what she was doing with this? She sprayed some at me during the fight.”

  Sean nodded. “She used it to make me fall asleep at the Rose house.”

  “Did she?” Jenny leaned over Evelyn and pressed down on the button. Evelyn didn’t stir as the sweet-smelling mist descended on her. Jenny thought back to another barely-remembered song, a lullaby her mother used to sing her. She remembered it poorly, but focused on the effect. “Sleep now, little child, sleep…” she sang, and she saw the faint tendrils of blue glowing magic drawn into Evelyn’s body. Jenny smiled.

  “What did you do?” Sean asked.

  “Improvised,” Jenny said. “Now, Grandma Annabelle should have some healing juice in here and…” The first jar she pulled out of the bag didn’t contain the yellow-brown potion, but rather the dry ingredients of a witch-bottle. Jenny stared at the bottle for a moment, and made her decision.

  She found the healing juice and recited Hattie’s healing poem for Sean. Then she picked up the bag containing the witch-bottle. “Make sure my aunt and my cousin are okay,” Jenny said. She wasn’t sure what else to say, but then added, “Tell them I love them.”

  “Wait, what? Where are you going?”

  “To make sure you all stay safe,” Jenny answered.“You heard her. If she doesn’t come through again, someone else will. We’ve got to seal it up. And maybe stop any more giants from coming through.”

  “When are you coming back?”

  Jenny shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably when we find help and I can bring my grandmother home. What about you?”

  Sean glanced at where Debbie’s ghost had been less than five minutes earlier. “You know, I’ve got a bunch of very good reasons to go with you, and only one to stay. Maybe it’s stupid, but I’ll stay.
Besides, someone’s got to defend this side, right?”

  “Goodbye, Sean.”

  “See you later, Jenny.”

  Jenny went ‘Round the Bend. Maybe, like any of her many moves growing up, she could just make this side her home for a while.

  Jessabelle-the-cat watched Evelyn’s house in the night. Perched on a low tree-branch, she was a nearly invisible even in the waning moonlight as she waited for Evelyn to return.

  Somehow, the giant had escaped. It baffled her how something so large could hide, even in the never-ending stretch of woods that surrounded Maple Bend, but it had. She’d found Sean hiking back, wet and ragged but otherwise in one piece. He’d told her what Jenny had done. Jessabelle had been furious for almost an hour. Finally, she grudgingly accepted it. Jenny and Jack could find help against the man in white while Grandma Annabelle protected the crossroads, and they’d all be back soon.

  In the meantime, someone needed to keep an eye on Evelyn. At that, Jessabelle excelled.

  Near midnight, Evelyn’s SUV roared into the driveway, kicking up gravel as she slammed on the brakes. She left it running as she raced into the house, switching on lights. Jessabelle narrowed her eyes as she followed Evelyn’s shadow behind the curtains. Less than two minutes later, Evelyn ran out through the front door with a suitcase in hand, not bothering to turn out lights or close the door. She hurled the suitcase into the back of the SUV when the black Cadillac Escalade pulled into the driveway behind her.

  Evelyn closed the back door of her car and leaned against it as the short man in the white suit emerged from the back of the Cadillac. “Is there a problem, Evie?” he asked.

  “Nothing I can’t handle, but I’m going to need more time. I found the crossroads. I even got through.”

  “Wonderful! But I don’t see my daughter with you.”

  “I encountered more resistance than I expected.” Evelyn looked to the ground. “I’m sorry.”