repeat, almost pleadingly. ‘Is there no possibility that they are just… travelling?’
‘I’m afraid not,’ Ash replies. ‘There were definite signs of a struggle at their home. Several other council members saw blood and scuff marks when they attended late last night. And none of their personal effects were gone, so if they did leave, they took nothing with them.’ Ash shakes his head and knots his fingers together. ‘I’m afraid that Mrs Gower and her grandson were almost certainly attacked. And taken.’
‘And this is in addition to the three others who haven’t been seen for the last week?’ I ask, looking at the group surrounding me. ‘How can we lose five people in a week, and Gabriel and I are only hearing about it now?’
‘There were no signs of distress with the others,’ Ash says. ‘Ethan McGuire said he was going to hunt deer for a few days, and the Willow couple often goes exploring. They haven’t been seen for almost a week and that is very unusual for them.’ He turns to two men by the door. ‘It is thanks to their diligence that we are finding out about this now. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.’
The two men nod.
‘They probably got lost, or maybe they decided to stay longer in the wilderness?’ Gabriel’s words are less than convincing to himself or to the rest of us.
‘No. We must assume the worst and start looking for them immediately,’ I announce. ‘What do they do for the community?’
‘McGuire helps to hunt for food. Mr Willow works the farms and Mrs Willow assists with the management of the library,’ says Clara. ‘And Mrs Gower is elderly. She occasionally helps by knitting blankets and such. Her grandson is twelve. He’s at school.’
‘Has there been any further disturbances with “The Stolen”?’ I ask. ‘Could they be involved?’
‘Well, that is why we wanted you to come here today,’ Ash says. ‘Things with that lot are tense at the best of times. They don’t come too close unless they intend to start trouble. We want your permission to go and enquire about our lost people with their camp, but as I said-’
‘Things are tense,’ I nod. ‘They will not be forthcoming if they are up to something, but in the same regard, if they were making another play for the impossible, we would know. There’s no point in taking people hostage and holding them to ransom if you’re not planning on telling the people you intend to blackmail.’ I look at Gabriel as he awaits my word. ‘We will go and see The Stolen with you. If our people are there, we will find them.’
‘Are you certain?’ Gabriel asks. ‘They don’t really like you.’
‘Please,’ I scoff. ‘It’s people liking me that I’m not used to. Who here can give Gabriel and me a clear visual image of the missing witches?’
‘I know them well,’ says a lady member of the council. ‘The Willows have-’
‘If you just think about them, we’ll see them,’ I interject, reaching out my hand. ‘As long as you don’t mind us using our Mental powers on you?’
‘It would be an honour,’ she says with a humble bow.
We take her hands, and she shares with us an image of the missing members of the village.
After, I look at the three members of the council who linger closely together at the side.
‘You three are from The Stolen’s camp, is that right?’ I ask.
‘Technically, we are. Only by circumstance,’ says the youngest. A blonde girl in her early twenties. ‘But as you know, we embraced our change in fortune a year or so after arriving. We embrace our magic.’
‘You’re Megan, right?’
She nods.
‘Would you come along with us?’ I ask her. ‘They may feel more at ease if they see you with us. See that we haven’t sacrificed you or something stupid.’
‘Me?’
‘Only if you don’t mind. I would ask Clara to come. But last time she went in there, she sent a pile of fox shit into the leader’s face.’
The whole room snorts with laughter.
‘I warned him to stop calling me a whore,’ Clara shrugs. ‘Not my fault he kept on at me. Besides, Ash and I were never a part of that group. As soon as we arrived here, we sought Gabriel out and made our allegiances crystal clear. Megan is much better suited to go than I.’
‘Do you mind?’ I ask Megan once more. ‘Your mother is still there, I believe. Will you be okay?’
‘Of course,’ she replies, nodding with wide and surprised eyes. ‘To help you would be a great honour, but I don’t expect my presence will help. I’m a deserter in their eyes. A traitor. And my mother has always been a bitch. I highly doubt that has changed much.’
‘Fox poo,’ Clara declares, waving her hand in the air and showing the girl a kind wink. ‘I’m telling you. It’s the best way to go.’
‘It’s settled then. We’ll go now and see if they have anything to do with this or we will rule them out.’ I look up at Gabriel, waiting for his confirmation that I have made the right choice.
He just winks, proudly watching me.
‘Whoosh?’ he asks me.
‘Whoosh,’ I agree.
The young girl clears her throat.
‘Whoosh?’ she asks anxiously. ‘What’s “whoosh”?’.
We arrive on the outskirts of the woodland that belongs to the group called ‘The Stolen.’
Fucking idiots, is what I call them.
All but Gabriel, Ash and I land in a disoriented heap on the floor. We help them up and get them steady on their feet.
‘I see,’ Meghan chuckles nervously, dusting off her clothes. ‘So that’s a Whoosh.’
As a precaution, I send a stream of my red fire to the ground and watch the flames swirl and morph, creating two of my fire wolves.
‘Just in case,’ I shrug as Gabriel, Ash, and Megan watch them prowl around them before coming to me and nuzzling my hands.
Their fire never burns me. Not how it would burn anyone else. It’s a comforting warmth on my skin. A reassurance.
‘That’s incredible,’ Megan gasps, reaching out her hand to touch them.
Gabriel grabs her wrist, stopping her.
‘I wouldn’t. Lilly can touch her flames, no one else. Not unless you want to be scarred for life.’
‘They’re… incredible!’ she admires. She holds out her palm. The faintest flicker of a dull flame awakens on her skin. ‘How do you do it?’
‘By being the Arcane,’ Gabriel replies. ‘Come on.’
The magical capabilities of the coven are… limited. Advanced magic such as transportation or extreme control over a fire that enables separate entities is rare.
So rare, only I can do it.
Arcane Witch perks, I guess.
So when they see it, they are often awe-struck.
As we make our way closer to the group who refuse to live with us, refuse to acknowledge their heritage, and refuse to get over the fact that they are not human, the first thing to hit us is the smell.
‘Christ…’ Gabriel sneers, burying his mouth and nose in the crook of his elbow. ‘What is that?’
‘Sewage,’ Megan replies with a grimace. ‘And unwashed clothes, people and their rotting food.’
As we step through the trees and come into view of the clearing where they make camp, we halt, and I call out.
‘Hello? We’re not here to hurt anyone. We just came to talk. Is there someone here-’ I hold my hand up, stopping a rock mid-air as it comes hurtling at my head. ‘I said we’re not here to hurt anyone, but if you throw another rock at us, that may change. Come out.’
I drop the rock to the ground as my wolves step ahead and snarl.
From the makeshift tents and shacks, from behind trees, people start to emerge.
They all look so afraid. So angry.
So sick.
They wear rags, pieces of cloth that are crudely held together by rope. Many have no shoes, and their skin is filthy and grey. A few fires are lit and the smell of cooking meat wafts through the air, but hardly enough to distract from the utter stench of their filth.
Many of the kids are crying and coughing. They’re painfully thin. It’s enough to make me want to scream.
A tall, gaunt and rigid-looking man steps out from the crowd, wearing something that resembles a suit from his previous life. I imagine it was once a lovely suit. I expect he wore it to his job, proud of the expensive silk tie that now hangs loose and tattered around his neck.
That, and the large, crudely carved crucifix that hangs beside it.
They all have crucifixes on them. From what I understand, the bigger it is, the higher their rank.
And his is the biggest.
He stops and spits at my feet.
‘Witch whore. You are not welcome-’
‘Silence,’ Gabriel orders, his eyes black. The man falls quiet in an instant. ‘And if anyone else dares speak to my wife like that, you will not enjoy what comes next.’
‘Calm, my love,’ I whisper, taking his arm and pulling him back to my side. I look at the rest of them and try to smile, which is hard as I loathe them for allowing themselves and their families to live this way. ‘I know that you do not wish for us to be here,’ I call out to the rest of the group. ‘And believe me, I wish that you were not here either. You know that there is no need for you to be living like this. You are all welcome at the village.’
They shuffle their feet and scoff at my words.
‘Then you are welcome to claim another village for yourselves,’ I offer. ‘The entire world is yours if you want it. You are free to go wherever you like. Up north, there are many, many towns with homes lying empty. You don’t need to live like this.’
This isn’t the first time I have been here. Nor the second or third. I’ve come many times, offering them something more than this hell as a life.
Each time I get the same response. Disgusted looks. Vile insults. Threats.
Witch whore. Satan’s puppet. Heathen. Murderer.
I’ve heard them all.
Not a single person in this camp wanted to be sent to the Arcane Realm. They all believed themselves human. They hated magic. They hated witches. They hate themselves and refuse to accept their magic or their place here.
The only thing they claim to love is God. And because I have “stolen” them, I have also shunned them from their God. Damned their eternal souls to the pits of hell.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
Many wear binding spells around their wrist. When I discovered one man attempting to create a Brand, I lost my shit entirely and stole any knowledge of the practice from his head and from anyone else’s who thought they knew how to do it.
I didn’t even know I could do that. But I was so enraged when I saw the Brand that I lunged at the man, grabbed his head and dug in deep. I spoke to the Arcane Realm that day. I demanded this never be allowed again, and it obeyed. It guided me into his mind. It guided me straight to his knowledge. And it let me pluck it from his mind and everyone else’s.
I’ve done that before. Spoken to the magic in this realm. When I commanded it to save me after the second spell, it sent me here to have Callie in safety.
And again, when I harnessed its power and it sent me back to my previous self so I could complete the final spell.
And then when I saw that branding iron. I vowed never to let another be held captive like that, so I abolished all knowledge of it from every mind in this place.
It knocked me out for a week after.
Scared Gabriel half to death.
My magic may be mighty. My knowledge extensive.
But this body has only had access to it for six months.
It’s not strong enough to wield what I’m capable of yet.
But it will be.
The man, complete with an oversized crucifix, steps forwards and starts reciting scripture. Something about the hand of God.
I’m distracted by another. At the very back of the group, a woman holds a baby, rocking it relentlessly as it wails and wails. It’s a cry full of pain and suffering.
Gabriel nudges me and pulls me back to the matter at hand.
The man stops his recital and glares.
‘We have come to offer you help once more,’ I call out. ‘Food. Access to our medical care and-’
‘You have come to try and seduce our souls into the depths of hell,’ crucifix man barks. ‘We have told you before, Witch. We have no intention of succumbing to your depraved, heathenistic rituals.’
‘You live in filth out of stubbornness,’ I state plainly. ‘You live in hunger and burn the food we send you. You die of sickness when relocating and accepting your true nature will spare you any suffering.’
‘You are the one who kills us. Starves us,’ he argues.
‘We have done nothing but try to help you.’
‘You stole us,’ accuses a woman from the crowd, causing others to murmur in agreement. ‘You took us from our homes. Our families. Your duty is to return us to the Human Realm. To save our souls before it is too late.’
‘You know I can’t do that,’ I repeat for the hundredth time. ‘The Veil is sealed and can not be reopened. Even if it could, you would return to a human world that would shun you because you are not human. Your children are not human, and the Hunters who still reside over in the Human Realm will hunt you down and kill you.’
‘We don’t want your magic,’ spits another. ‘Keep it. Our Lord God, our heavenly father, will save us soon, and he will burn you and all your Satan-worshipping sluts-’
‘I’m going to stop you there. If you can’t come up with any other insults except whore and slut, I’m not even going to bother discussing this with you.’ I look beyond them, to those lingering at the sidelines. To the ones who are noticeably thinner than those yelling insults. To those whose clothes are barely clothes at all.
The lowest of this self-loathing cult of witches who believed they were human and long to return to a world of politics, war, pollution and persecution.
‘My invitation for you to take up residence in a town is open to you all.’ I assure them. ‘My offer of peace is always in place. We did not steal you from your life. Any pain you are feeling at being here is unintentional, and I am sorry. But know this. You will never return to the human world. The Veil is closed for good and will never again re-open. So instead of living in squalor, I implore you, just say the word and we will gladly help you.’
‘In exchange for our souls!’ yells the sharp-looking man to the rest of the crowd. ‘She will feed your living soul to her satanic master if you allow her. Do not be tempted by her beauty and sensuality. She is nothing more than Lucifer’s harlot.’
Gabriel snorts and bursts out laughing. He’s the only bloody one. Everyone else looks ready to either run, faint or fight.
‘Sorry,’ he chokes as I glare at him. ‘I just… where does he come up with this shit?’
‘You are not helping.’
‘Sorry, Lucifer’s harlot.’ He clears his throat and forces on a straight face. ‘I’m good.’
Rolling my eyes, I look back at the crowd.
‘Some of my people have gone missing,’ I declare, keen to move this on. ‘Five, in fact. I will give you one chance now to tell me if you know anything of their whereabouts. If you have them in some idiotic attempts to force my hand in reopening the Veil, I must warn you that not only is that a pointless endeavour but a very foolish one. I will not allow any harm to come to peaceful people, so if you have taken them, speak now. Hand them over and we will leave. If you do not and I discover they are here or you know where they are, then I will not be happy.’ My wolves snarl and dig their claws into the ground. My magic peaks and the ground trembles a little, just to show them that I mean fucking business. ‘Not happy at all.’
‘You have ten minutes before we start searching your camp ourselves,’ Gabriel states.
‘We don’t have any of your demons here.’ The woman that snaps her words is one of the older ones and wears a large, crude crucifix around her neck. As she starts calling us every name under the sun, I can’t stop watching the young mum at the back of the crowd, still rocking her small baby who is shrieking.
Her eyes land on mine. They’re so tired and worried. They are full to the brim with tears, and as her gaze lands on mine, I see her lip tremble.
‘Oh, I can’t deal with this anymore,’ I hiss. My eyes go black, and I look at the group in the middle with the largest crucifixes, all throwing insults and hatred at us. ‘Go the fuck to sleep. Now.’
As soon as I speak, they fall to the floor with their eyes closed.
The others lingering at the edges, unsure and frail-looking, I left alone.
‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ Ash says with a half-amused chuckle. ‘But now they’re out, can we at least wash them? They stink.’
I make my way towards the young mother, who staggers back a few steps as I approach. I hold out my hands.
‘Give me your baby.’
‘N-no… please… don’t hurt-’
‘She’s sick. I can hear it in her cry. I see her flustered cheeks and the clamminess of her skin. She’s in pain. Give her to me, or I will take her from you.’
The others around her watch in uncertainty and some shake their head, urging her not to hand over the infant.
But she’s a mum. And most mums wouldn’t care who the hell helped their child if they were suffering.
She hands me the child. I feel the fever through the blanket. I lower myself to the floor and rest the little girl on my legs before unwrapping her blanket. Gabriel kneels beside me and watches as I feel her little tummy.
‘What other symptoms has she had?’ I ask.
‘Erm… she… she… her poo has had blood, and she is sick when she feeds.’
I channel my Physical magic, just as Collins has been teaching me. I send it out like a ripple from my fingertips and feel the resistance in her belly. I look at Gabriel.
‘She has a blockage.’
‘Good job you’re here then, hey?’ he says calmly. He gets to his feet. ‘I’m borrowing one of your wolves if you don’t mind,’ he says as I focus on the little girl squirming before me. ‘We’ll start searching the camp as you do your thing here.’
I nod and press my fingers into her stomach, sending my power through her.
Her cries ease to a hiccup, and when I open my eyes, she’s calm and quiet, looking up at me with the remnants of tears in her sweet little brown eyes. Her tiny fingers grab at my hair before she tries to shove it in her mouth.
‘There,’ I smile, gently retrieving my curls from her vice-like grip. ‘All better.’
The young mother scoops her up, utterly stunned into silence as she looks at her happy, pink and babbling baby. Already so much healthier and happier.
‘Thank you,’ she gasps, pinning her babe to her chest. ‘Oh, thank you.’
‘It’s my pleasure,’ I assure her. ‘And it would be my pleasure to please, please let me help you get out of here.’ I glance back at the sleeping mass in the centre of the camp. The camp leaders. ‘They’re wrong about us. We’re not evil. We have no interest in your souls. And you and your children do not deserve to live like this.’ I look at her again. ‘Your baby would have died if I had not come here today. This is all so unnecessary.’
I wait and feel such relief when she nods.
As she does, others come forward, and within a few minutes, a group has gathered.
Not as many as I would like, but at least twelve of them.
The others remain firm, standing between their sleeping elders and us.
Gabriel arrives back with the others and shakes his head.
‘They’re not here, and no one knows anything about their disappearances,’ he says, sliding his hands in his pockets and resting his gaze on the small group huddled together. ‘What did I miss?’
‘They’re returning to the village with us. They will need housing, clothes, and food. And an evaluation of their powers.’
Gabriel nods and looks at Ash, who gives a little bow at my words.
‘I will ensure they are settled as soon as we return,’ he promises.
I stand, but the young mother reaches out and takes my arm. Looking up at me, she takes an anxious breath.
‘You are missing people?’ she asks.
‘Yes. Do you know something about it?’
‘We’re missing some people too,’ she says quietly, glancing at the others who tut and shake their heads, muttering the words sinner and traitor. ‘In the last two months or so, people have gone missing.’ She nods to the sleeping elders. ‘They said they had joined you. That they were lost to hedonism and darkness. My father was one of them.’
I turn to Gabriel. He shakes his head.
‘No. None of your people have come to us. And I’m sorry to say there is no hedonism or darkness in the village. But there is sanitation, food, clean clothes, health care and acceptance.’ He offers her his hand, and she takes it, letting him help her to her feet.
‘How many have gone missing?’ I ask.
‘I’m… I’m not sure. More than ten, I would say. That and…’
‘And?’
‘Well, we’ve been finding dead animals a lot.’ She looks towards the distant hillside. ‘Several miles away in that direction. I heard the elders talking. They said horses and cattle were found and looked as if they had been slaughtered by something. All carved up and stuff. They said it was your people.’
‘No. Not us. We would never do that.’ I sigh and look at the others as they share a nervous glance. But scaring these people is the last thing I want to do. Especially after some of them finally agreed to come back with us. ‘We’ll look into it,’ I assure her. I turn to the others. ‘No sign of our people at all?’ I ask hopefully. They all shake their heads. Even my wolves do. So I face the rest. ‘To those who wish to come with us today, collect your belongings. We’re leaving in five minutes.’
They all just stand there, looking at me like I’m insane.
‘They’re wearing all their belongings,’ Gabriel whispers in my ear. ‘I think they’re good to go.’
So be it.
‘Anyone else want to come?’ I offer. They all shuffle back. ‘As you wish. We will continue to deliver food, clothes and fresh water to you. If you all choose to burn it, then that’s on you, but I will do what my conscience tells me to do. Are there any who need medical attention?’
A few shift on their feet.
‘You have five minutes to come and see me before we leave. I will ask for nothing in return. If anyone wishes to come to us for help with anything in the future, they can. If your children are sick, you bring them to the village. Even if you continue to refuse magical help, we have medicine that will help. That will save lives. The lives of your children.’
‘We do not need your heretic interventions!’ snaps an elderly woman.
‘Then you don’t have to have them. But that baby did today. She needed it, or her mother would have woken up tomorrow to her corpse lying in her crib. That child’s death would have been on your conscience. On your soul. And when you die after the long life that you got to live, if you do meet this God of yours, you can explain to him how you let children die because you’re a fucking cunt!’
The last word I yell, and it echoes all around us.
I reach out my hand, my eyes black and my Mental magic summoning the sleeping back to the world of the living. They look around, confused and on high alert.
‘I will return,’ I cut in before anyone can say a word. ‘I will just appear, and if I discover you are keeping people from the help they need, there will be consequences.’ I take a step towards them, and they all cower back, shuffling away from me in the dirt. And so they should. ‘Make no mistake. If you are willing to let babies die in agony because of your closed-minded discrimination and religious delusions, I will take those children from you. They are a privilege. They are not your right. They are not your possession; they are your family. They are living, breathing, feeling souls, and I will not allow them to suffer because of you. If you do not fulfil the obligations you have to them, then I will. You do not want to be here. I get that. We did not want to be in your world either, but this is how it is. Refuse your magic if you want. But I will not allow any more needless suffering. So I leave you with this to consider.’ I glance at Gabriel. It’s something we have discussed at length. ‘An island.’
‘What?’ asks their leader, pushing himself to his feet.
‘One to call your own. If you want it, it will be a place of no magic. I have seen the island. There are houses. Fresh water supplies. Wild animals to hunt and good earth for crops. If you want it, it is yours. And you will get no interference from us if that’s what you wish.’
The offer is tempting. I can see it in his eyes as he looks at his squalor-filled home.
‘Let me know when you have decided.’ I look at the others. The ones still at the edges. ‘You. You let me know. You don’t need to live in their shadow. This world is yours. Claim it.’
‘Send us home,’ the leader snarls. ‘You sent us here. SEND US BACK!’
Gabriel takes a menacing step toward him. I hold his wrist and keep him at my side.
‘You miss your old life,’ I tell him. ‘You miss the power you had at work in that shiny office in the city. You miss the big house you owned. The trophy wife you fucked around on.’
His eyes blink quickly.
‘Oh yeah, I know it all. I see your mind as clearly as I see the piss you’re so desperately trying to hold in. And you know what you miss most? More than everything else? Do you know what he misses so much that he cries himself to sleep at night?’ I ask the rest. ‘Is it his church? Is it his family? No.’ I shake my head and laugh. ‘It’s the internet. It’s porn. Your leader is addicted to pornography, and he can think of nothing else except wanking off to videos of gang bangs and foot fetish videos.’
Those I came with scoff and laugh.
‘But please, keep preaching about our dirty, deviant and sadistic way of life whilst you lie in the filth, pulling on your dick to distant memories of teenage girls getting fucked in every hole for your viewing pleasure.’
He lowers his face. Good move, because I really want to smack it.
‘So,’ I call out. ‘If you need my magic to heal you, come see me now. For those coming with us, speak to Ash. Otherwise, I suggest you stay quiet and stay out of my way.’
Gabriel rests his hand on my back and whispers in my ear.
‘I am so fucking proud of you, wife. So proud and extremely turned on.’
‘Well, there was mention of some hedonism,’ I grin back, looking at the small line of people shuffling towards me. ‘Now excuse me, husband. I have some healing to do. Try and get more to come back with us, will you? Especially ones with children.’
‘I’m on it, Beautiful.’
