Witch Blood
What happens when you reveal what you believe in? Well, I'll tell you. It involves blood, a hunt and murder. I am Raina. I am a peaceful witch that never harmed a fly. I follow the rules and never disobeyed them. Well, I guess I crossed the line when I decided to finally open my emotions to my best friend. I have always kept my religion a secret from others. Witches isn't really excepted and is usually misunderstood. People think we worship the devil and cast evil spells. There is no devil in the craft and evil spells are not allowed and are uncalled for. Wicca is a peaceful religion and the last line of the Wiccan Rede is "An It Harm None." Well, try to explain that to a person who is blocked by the wrongs that her parents have thought her about witches. I was on the run the next night.
I ran past the dark tall trees and through the thick brush. Branches tore at my clothes and the moon lit my way as I escaped my enviable doom as the mob chased me with their torches and weapons. I heard the snapping of branches and the crushing of leaves as the mob got closer and closer. I felt myself tire and soon I knew I couldn't run no further. I will have stand up and fight. I know we Witches aren't supposed to hurt anybody with Magick but there are ways of defense that doesn't lie to the Wiccan Rede. I stood silently and focused all of my energy on the earth to create a Ward to defend myself against the negative energies. I struggled to keep the Ward up because of my exhaustion. The mob grew closer and closer. I can see them through the brush and trees. I let the Light energy of the universe, the silver-white of the Moon and the fire-white of the Sun flow through me until I felt like a ball of lighting was in my palm and I sent a direct bolt towards the negative energies of the mob that wanted my doom. They suddenly stopped run all at once. They stood there, with their look of stunned faces as their negative energies were cleansed. This would only stun them for a second as I put down my already failing Ward and ran from the mob. It was either stay and wait for the mob to recover or run and get away from the mob as fast as I could. I knew the Witch Hunt was over by far.
I kept running until I found the place I was looking for. In the deep depths of the forest was the cottage where I grew up until I moved to the town were the mob lives. My parents were long gone. I became an orphan a long time ago. I don't know what happened to my other family, but I know I was alone. I learned my Witch training from a mentor who has been gone. The people I had always cared about just seem to disappear into the night one day and never come back. But, I used to being alone. I had been alone since I was 13 when my mentor left. I had been an orphan since I was 5. I always had been alone, even when the town, well, liked me. I signed and shook the thoughts out of my head and opened the door to my cottage.
The inside of my cottage was somewhat dusty since I haven't been here for a week. I usually come here and clean the place once a week but I've been busy in town, but since I will be taking permanent residence here, I better start cleaning. I took out a towel from one of the kitchen cupboards, which is on the left side of the house in a separate room and cleaned the dust of the large table which was next to the kitchen and not far from the living room. Once I cleared the dust from the table, I started the clean the kitchen counters and the chamber pot where I cook my meals. I made my way around the house and the last place I cleaned was my bedroom. There was two bedrooms in my cottage. One was my parents, which I cleaned first and the other was mine. Next to my bedroom was the bathroom, which I cleaned after my parents room was spotless.
My bedroom consists of a large bed covered by a huge black blanket with one pillow. Next to my bed was a dresser that consists of my most valuable possessions. There was some candles on the dresser that lit my room during the evening and nighttime. On the other side of my room was a huge dresser that held my clothing. Next to it is where I put my shoes when I go to bed. And last but not least was my bookcase that was now holding a lot of books that I have collected. I made sure that the room had no dust and spider webs. I released the spiders outside; thank goodness they weren't big ones. After the cottage was clean of dust and negative energies it was 9:00 pm. I went to my room and fell asleep.
I awoke to the sounds of running feet and the light of torches outside of my cottage. I heard the voices as they drew closer and closer towards my supposedly hidden cottage. I got up and walked to the front window. A group of people walked through the brush, tearing apart the branches as they passed. They were scratched by the branches and they had snarls on their faces. I saw my best friend, who I thought was my best friend, follow her parents with a guilty look on her face.
“There is the witch’s cottage! Get her!” One of the men yelled.
Great. Just what I need. I looked outside for any possible ways to escape. The mob started to surround my small cottage. They blocked the front ways of escape and soon, if I am not quick, they would block the back ways of my escape. I ran to my room and grabbed one of my huge bags and put the essentials in it and gathered some items of great importance. I stuffed in clothes, soap, magick supplies, and some of my parent’s things that they left behind when they died a couple years ago. After I put some food and water in my bag, I rushed to the back end of the cottage and opened the door. The mob was faster than I thought. They have already surrounded the whole cottage and blocked my ways of a peaceful escape. Well, they asked for it. I did the same spell that I had used before with a little more strength packed into it. I released my spell. They suddenly backed off dazed and confused. I smiled and ran past a couple men and women and charged into the woods.
I soon slowed down as the distance grew farther and farther. I pushed back the branches as I went. I soon hit and wide opening in the forest. It was a beautiful green pasture with rocks and flowers. A stream was near the side of the pasture a little always from one of the big rocks that we surrounded by wild sage. I sighed and went over to one of the smaller rocks and sat down. I felt calm here and I enjoyed the cleanness of the forest, and soon I can hear the mob again.
“Who are you?”
I turned my head to see a boy who wasn’t much older than I am. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes that shined with curiosity. He wore a simple white shirt and black pants with black shoes. He carried a small book and a pencil with him.
“Hi.” I said as I got off the rock and walked towards him. “I’m Raina.” I held out my hand.
“I’m Matthew. But everyone calls me Matt.”
“Matt. Do you live around here?”
“Yeah, I live up the hill.” Matt said.
I saw the mob come into the clearing as they pushed the branches away.
“There she is! Get her! Get the witch!” The leader screamed.
“Raina? Are they talking about…”
“We have to go!” I grabbed Matt’s hand and started running. The mob starting running towards us and soon they were on out tail.
“Where are we going?!” Matt yelled.
“I don’t know! Where is your house?” I yelled back.
“Up the hill, a little ways into the forest.”
I let Matt run ahead of me and I followed him back into the forest. He ran in curves, I guess he gets that the mob is bad, and I followed him. I heard the mob slowing down and the curses of the adults as the lost us into the forest. After an hour of running we reached another clearing where a house sat that wasn’t that much bigger than my cottage. We slowed down as we approached Matt’s house and he opened the door. I followed him inside and he closed the door. Matt’s house was like my house with different furniture. It was the same format so it was possibly built by the same person.
Matt turned to me and asked: “Why are those people after you Raina?
I sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“We have time.”
And so I told Matt, which I shouldn’t after what happened with Mari, about how I told Mari about me being a peaceful witch and that they just don’t get it that I am peaceful and how they found my cottage. Matt listened to my every word. He nodded. It was silent for a minute. I was afraid of what he was going to say. Would he accept me? He was peaceful enough.
“I’ll help you. It’s what I do anyway.”
“What you do?” I asked.
“I’m a Protector. I may not look like much but I am like those heroes you may have heard about in stories. I protect any one I meet and they should accept you, Raina. They are humans…”
I have never heard of Protectors. Of course I heard of heroes in stories. Maybe, they are the heroes in legends. But Matt looked like a simple journalist, not someone who knows how to wield a blade or any kind of weapon.
I heard the mob outside. They have seemed to get here fast enough, but too fast. Could they be humans? I know Mari is human, I have been around her enough to know her aura. But the other people…
I looked at Matt. He was deep in thought, looking through his leather journal like he was trying to find something. I heard the mob drew closer.
“Matt! They’re here!”
The Protector blinked and looked up from his journal. He walked over to the front window and looked outside.
“Damn! How did they get past my barriers?!”
“Barriers?”
“I don’t look like a witch, but I do know some magick. They seem to ignore it though, they are not human.”
“What could they be?”
“Demons. It explains their sudden increase in speed and impulse reactions. When humans find a witch they would take the witch to trial. The Demons hate anything magical that can overpower them. They find a witch, they kill her.”
“So, let me get this straight. I have been living in a town full of Demons and I didn't know it?”
“Yeah. They hide their auras very well. When the sense a witch near, they take over the town he or she is living in and kill all of the people in it, taking their bodies to be their own. They only people they don't kill are the people that are closest to the witch. If they do, the witch will notice.” Matt explains.
“So, they were waiting for me to revile myself?”
“Exactly.”
“Wow. These Demons are smart, but why do they want to kill witches?” I ask.
The mob got closer. I held my breath.
“Because they are the only people that can take the Demons down.”
The windows and doors crashed as the mob burst in. The leader howled in his blood lust and his figure began to change. He turned into the very monster he is, a monster that looked like hell itself. Its fangs were huge and it reached near the end of its chin. Dark leather like skin covered its entire body and it grew 4x taller and wider as its real muscles shown. My mind went blind in panic.
“Holy shit.” Yes, that's all I could say. Wonderful, huh?
“Just stay behind me, ok?”
I nodded and backed away from the leader Demon.
“Time to die, witch!” The leader Demon growled.
“Over my dead body, Demon.” Matt growled. Matt took a stick out of his pocket and placed his hand on it and whispered a few words of a lost language. The tiny stick grew into a gleaming sword of overwhelming beauty. The blade itself shined of magnificence and it glowed ever brighter in Matt's hands.
“You are not an ordinary journalist, are you?” I said.
Matt ignored me and pointed the sword at the Demon.
“It is your time to die Abaddon.” Matt snarled.
The Demon hissed at is name. He howled in anger.
“STAY BACK!,”Abaddon growled, “HE'S MINE! GET THE WITCH'S BLOOD!”
Abaddon lunged at Matt and Matt raised his sword in return. The other Demon's started to close in, ready to get my blood.
“Matt...” I said in concern.
“Just use your magick! Are you a Witch or not?!” Matt yelled.
I nodded and gathered the Light energy of the universe, the silver-white of the Moon and the fire-white of the Sun and felt the thunderbolt. Now I meant for harm, or something to stop them for a while. I released the magick. The Demons, which are now in their true forms, only fell back for a second and then continued to come. I looked past the Demons and I say Mari. She shook with fear and disbelief. She held herself in a ball in a small corner. One of the Demons, which was her mother, started to walk over to her. Mari started to whimper. I know that Mari told the Demons about who I was, but she was in danger and it was my fault. I can't let her die. I looked over to where Matt and the Demon Abaddon were fighting. Matt struggled to defeat the Demon and the Demon laughs. He was going to kill Matt, the Demon was going to kill Mari. I can't..I have to save them. Anger boiled in me and I raised my hands and summoned the power of the Light to overcome the power of the darkness.
“Light, overcome the Dark! Good, DESTROY THE EVIL!” I shouted. A bright light blasted the room. The Demons yelled as the Light burnt their skin. They screamed as they burned. I heard Mari and Matt scream in amazement and I then fell into darkness.
I moaned. My head hurt. Damn, my whole body hurt. I tried to move. I can't move. I opened my eyes. I saw Matt unconscious on the floor. His sword as near his side and in front of him was a pile of ashes. In fact, ashes were everywhere. Ashes had painted this room. I looked around. I killed the Demons. I killed them...
I started to cry. I cried for what Mari went through, I cried for what I pulled Matt into, I cried for the Demons I burned, I cried for myself. I destroyed and now I can't undo what I've done. I silently got up and walked over to Matt's body. I checked his pulse. He was still alive.
“I'm sorry Matt.” I said. Then I walked over to where Mari was. She was shaking and crying. She was mumbling to herself. Regret filled her aura. She was now alone.
“Mari?”
Mari looked at me with her tear filled eyes. She sobbed and hugged me.
“I'm sooo sorry. I didn't know! Honest to God I didn't know what they are! Raina!” She sobbed. I hugged her back.
“And I'm sorry Mari. I'm sorry for what I've done. Forgive me.” I said. Then I broke the hug and started to walk towards the door.
“Where are you going, Raina?” Mari wailed.
I turned my head.
“Home. Somewhere,” I sighed, “Where I can't harm anyone else. Tell Matt I'm sorry.” I gestured to Matt and then I just walked out of the blood-soaked house. I lied to Mari. I wasn't going home, nowhere was home for me. I will just cause more harm. I just keep walking until the sun falls and the moon rises and when the sun rises. I just walk. I walk away from what I've done and what I want to undo. I live with regrets and hopes that will never come true.
