The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) (2 page)

A jolt of
electricity shot through Laura’s body as the scream tore through the air,
startling her and sending her sprawling towards the edge of the cliff. She threw
herself to the left, gripping onto a jagged piece of rock and holding on with
all her might as her legs swung down over the side.
  She was breathing heavily as she watched the rocks and dust she had stirred
up plummet towards dark depths below.
  Squeezing her eyes shut, she swung her leg up, hoisting herself back over the
side of the cliff and dragging her body a safe distance from the edge.
  Stumbling to her feet, she sucked in a heavy but shaky breath, then tore
through the shrubbery towards the opposite side of the mountain. When she
reached the beginning of the overgrown track, she saw a sight that would stay
with her forever.
  Her mother’s cries were almost audible from the top of Wimerack, and Laura
watched helplessly as she was dragged roughly through the dirt by her feet and
away from Oliver’s limp body.
  Cara scrabbled at the dirt, searching for anything that she could use as a
weapon. She was putting up an incredible fight, but she was not strong enough. Not
for the three people dragging her.
  Fear speared through Laura and her feet seemed to act on their own accord as
she started sprinting down the track.
  A scream tore from her throat, ‘MUM!’
  She was down the first quarter of the trail in record time, dodging branches
and soaring over rocks the whole way. She had never run so fast in her life. She
almost couldn’t feel the burning in her lungs or the aching of her legs as she
pushed herself to go faster. Her mind was a blur of silent screams and
unanswerable questions.
  For only a moment she allowed herself the luxury of removing her gaze from
the track to the scene that was unfolding before her. She could only see a
swirl of dust where the car had been.
  ‘NO!’ she yelped as she leapt over a fallen log.
  Her shoelace had unknowingly come undone somewhere along the descent,
catching in a piece of the hard bark. Her body was whipped around and she
kicked out at the log. She hurdled through the air, her left shoulder slamming
into the ground with a chilling crack.
  She cried out in pain, but that wasn’t the end of it. Suddenly, like a car
that had sped around a corner too fast and lost control, she began to roll head
first down the mountain. She didn’t realise then but she had been screaming the
entire time.
  The world spun around her as she tumbled through the dirt at an alarming speed.
Then, the world stopped altogether. She had struck a rock with an excruciating thud.
Her throat was raspy and dry and her screams came to a halt as the wind was
knocked right out of her. She lay there, stunned.
  Groaning with pain, she realised that her mother would be long gone by now.
Her stomach was in an anxious knot, and she felt sick to the bone. The terror
was slowly consuming her as she began to comprehend what had just happened.
  Her thoughts were invaded by the realisation that her mother had been
abducted and she couldn’t form any realistic reason in her mind as to why those
people had taken her.
  On top of that she had absolutely no idea what she was meant to do. All that
innocence she had, all that freedom, had so rapidly been taken from her. Now
she felt trapped; trapped in a world of confusion and lost until she found her
mother.
  Who had taken her, and why?
That was what she wanted to know.
  She attempted to lift herself up on her elbows but winced in pain. They were scraped
raw and so were her knees. As she managed to prop herself up against the rock, she
began inspecting her wounds. When she saw her left arm she cried out, and
suddenly the throbbing from the deep gash engulfed her. She looked away quickly,
not wanting to see the shredded flesh around the cut.
  She could feel something warm dribbling down her temple, and a metallic taste
filled her mouth.
  Blinking hard, she forced back the tears. She wouldn’t cry. There was no
point. No one would hear her.
  Except…
  The scene from the top of the mountain flashed through her mind, and
realisation dawned on her. She was up and running in an instant. Everything
disappeared. The pain, the worry, the world around her. The adrenaline was once
again kicking in.
  She was slow and clumsy as she climbed through the fence of the first
paddock, dragged herself under the next one, and sprinted through the trees,
willing herself to move faster and faster. And then, she was only meters from
the house, the body of her father in sight.
  Without caution, she vaulted over the low fence of her house yard and dashed across
the driveway.
  She dropped to the ground, sliding through the gravel on her knees and
skidding to a stop beside him.
  ‘Dad!’ She gasped, ‘Dad, wake up! Dad!’
 That was when she noticed the thick, sticky, crimson red substance flowing
from a wound in his stomach. Blood. She knew from the first look that he had
lost a lot of it. She also knew that it was a bullet that had taken him down.
She had seen bullet wounds in animals before, but never anything quite like
this. The tears were streaming down her face before she even realised that she
was crying.
  ‘Dad,’ she whispered as she took his hand and sobbed.
She couldn’t believe she was seeing him like this. His usually bright, happy
face was now pale, with dark shadows around his eyes. Almost unrecognizable.
His breath was shallow. He stirred lightly, trying to roll onto his back.
  She gasped, ‘Dad?’
  She helped him to roll over and moved closer to him, brushing the hair from
his eyes.
 ‘Kiddo, are you okay?’ he asked, his voice shaky, barely above a whisper.
  ‘I’m fine Dad but you? What do I do?’ Laura hadn’t done first aid but she
knew that she needed to stop the bleeding. She went to take off her jacket but
he stopped her.
  ‘Darling, there is nothing you can do,’ he whispered.
  She shook her head, her eyes glassy, ‘no,’ she murmured, ‘no I can get help.’
  He took her hand, ‘Laura, I love you.’
  ‘No. No don’t say goodbye. I can get help! I can get the ambulance! You can’t
leave me!’ Her voice cracked as she shouted the words, reaching for her mobile
in her back pocket.
  It was smashed beyond use. She threw it away angrily and shifted onto her
feet, preparing to get up, but her father pulled her back down.
  ‘Stay with me,’ he begged.
  ‘I will get the phone, I’ll call for help.’
  She had managed to half stand up now and at the same time tried to pry her
arm free from her father’s grip, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not
when he was begging her like this.
  ‘Laura, listen to me. They won’t get here in time,’ he paused, coughing
painfully.
  ‘Dad!’ Laura sobbed kneeling down again. It hit her at that moment that he
was right. They wouldn’t make it out there quick enough.
  Oliver managed to draw in an agonizing breath, ‘you don’t have much time.
They will be back for you soon.’
 ‘Who will? The people who took Mum?’
  He nodded once because that was all he could manage.
  ‘There is a group in Corin,’ he coughed again, ‘they live at a place called
the Grand Manor. They will keep you safe. They will help you find your mother.’
  ‘Why did those people take her? Why are they coming for me?’ She whispered,
holding his hands tightly.
  ‘You are powerful, Laura. You are strong.’ He murmured.
  ‘I still don’t understand,’ her voice squeaked as she tried to remain calm
for her father’s sake.
  ‘When you get to the Grand Manor, ask for Estella and Leo. They will tell you
everything.’
  She nodded, biting her trembling lip, ‘how do I get there?’
  ‘The address is in the office under the bottom draw. Everything you will need
for now is in there,’ he managed to say, ‘I want you to promise me something
Laura.’
  ‘Anything.’
  ‘I want you to get to safety,’ he hesitated, reaching up and wiping a tear
from Laura’s chin. ‘Promise me you will get to safety,’ he looked at his
daughter and smiled, ‘and promise me you will find your mother.’
  ‘Yes I promise Dad, I promise,’ she choked on the last word, knowing what was
coming but hoping with all she had that it wouldn’t.
  He took hold of both of his daughter’s hands, ‘Laura, I love you okay? Never
ever forget that,’ he squeezed her hand, ‘stay strong, Laura. For me.’
  ‘I love you too Dad,’ she said softly. A silent promise.
  He smiled, and then, without warning, his hands fell away, and he took his
last breath.
  ‘No, Dad, NO!’ She wailed, hugging him tightly, ‘DAD!’
  She sat there hugging him to her chest, howling, praying that he would wake
up.
  He didn’t.

She stayed
like that for what felt like hours, although it couldn’t have been more than
half of one. She was unable to do anything else. As her cries turned into
silent sobs, her ears picked up the sound of a machine. And it was coming
closer.
  She sucked in a shaky breath and looked up to see a motorbike roaring down the
driveway, kicking up dust behind it. She let go of her father and scurried
backwards into the house. Hiding on the other side of the front door, she peeked
through the stain glass window and watched as the bike approached.
  Cautiously, she backed into the house until she was in the kitchen and out of
sight. She ran for the desk in the office and ripped the bottom draw from its
place.
  Indented in the hard wood floor was a latch which she turned and opened.
Inside was a backpack. Heaving it onto her back, she quietly made her way back
to the kitchen and peaked through a window, pain searing through her.
  The rider, a boy with a dark mob of hair, was striding towards her father. As
she watched, she dried the tears from her face. She couldn’t cry any more. Now
she had to be strong. For her Dad, like he had asked.
  There was an air of innocence about the boy. How could he be dangerous? He
looked far from it. But she had to listen to her father. She trusted him. She
had to be careful.
  The boy bent down and felt for her father’s pulse, frowning. He must have realised
what she already knew.
  Looking around, he straightened up and headed for the door. She rose from her
hiding place under the window and darted through the hallways, escaping through
the door at the back of the house.
  She took off running straight for she sheds, and was tackled to the ground.

The boy had
come back out the front door to see Laura escaping across the yard. Blood was
on her shirt, he noticed. What he didn’t know was that it was her own.
  Instinct kicked in and he had dived for her.

Laura twisted
and turned in the boys grasp as he managed to roll her over and sit on her
stomach, pinning her arms to the ground.
  Then, the adrenaline wore off and she couldn’t fight any longer. She had been
shouting for help but she knew it would do no good. No one would hear her.
  Finally she opened her eyes, which she didn’t even realise that she had
closed, and looked up into the boy’s face. She was defeated.
  ‘Whoa Ace, stop your moving there,’ he snapped.
  ‘What do you want?’ She growled.
  The raw skin of her knees and elbows stung and she was bleary with pain, but
she didn’t allow him the satisfaction of knowing that.
  ‘For you to stop moving,’ he countered irritably as his grip tightened on her
injured arm. She winced but bit back a cry.
  ‘How about you let me go and I’ll stop moving.’
  He laughed loudly, ‘do you really think I’m
that
stupid?’
  She glared at him, ‘who are you, anyway?’
  ‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’
  ‘Why the hell do you think I asked?’
  ‘Drew Crescent. I was sent to deliver a message to the Harmers. Looks like no
one’s here but you and the dead guy,’ he responded, gesturing with his head in
the direction of her father’s body. ‘Know anything about that?’
  Laura looked up at his impatient expression, utterly horrified. She was quiet
for a very long time before she managed to whisper, ‘that’s my dad.’
  His emerald green eyes widened, and she saw his features melt into a look of
regret, ‘I’m so sorry, I... I didn’t know. I should have pieced it together.
How did…’ he trailed off before simply asking, ‘how?’
  ‘He- it happened just before you arrived, three men came and he was shot and
my mum, she-’ she managed to choke down the tears.
  Stay strong. For me.
  Drew loosened his grip, letting go of her and shifting into the dirt beside
her. She managed with an agonizing effort to sit up.
  ‘I watched those people… those people that did that to my father take my mum.
I don’t know where they took her. I- my dad said they would be coming back for
me and I thought you were them, so I tried to run.’
  He furrowed his brow and paused for a moment before asking, ‘do you have any
idea why they took her?’
  She shook her head, ‘my father said that there was a group in Corin that
would help me.’
 Remembering the bag on her back, she dragged it into her lap and unzipped it.
Inside were a number of items, but what stuck out at her was a map. She opened
it, then passed it to Drew.
  He took it from her, regarding it thoughtfully. There was a point on the map that
had been circled lightly in pencil. It lay on the opposite side of the city. The
place didn’t have a name, just a small dot representing that it was there.
  ‘This is the Grand Manor. This is where I live.’
  ‘Really? So you know Estella and Leo? Dad said to ask for them.’
  ‘Yes,’ he nodded slowly, raising his eyes to hers as he did, ‘I can take you
to them.’
  Her own eyes softened with relief, ‘thank you.’
  She wiped her hand across her forehead, brushing the cut and wincing.
  Drew then seemed to notice how bad a shape she was in, ‘you’ve got quite some
injuries.’
  ‘Yeah, fell down as I was running to get here.’
  ‘Don’t worry, Stella will patch you up.’
  Laura was too weary to ask any more questions. Instead, she extended her good
arm, ‘I’m Laura by the way.’
  He took her hand and shook it lightly, ‘Ace it is.’
  She did not smile, but she felt a little more at ease in his presence.
  Quietly, he reached into his pocket, pulling an envelope from it.
  ‘Here, I guess the message is for you then.’
  He passed the envelope to her and watched as she took it.
  Laura stared at him, then at the letter in her hands. She felt unsettled, but
barely a moment later she turned it over and ripped it open, almost shredding
the letter within. She didn’t care though, because she had suddenly realised
that this note may just have the answers she so desperately desired.
  She needed to know what was going on. Why these horrible things had happened,
and why they had happened to
her.
She wanted answers so she could find
her mother and bring her home. She had always thought that she would have both her
parents to fall back on, but now… now she didn’t. Praying that she would receive
all she required, she began to read.