The Witch Is Back (30 page)

He nodded, staring at me for a few seconds before leaning down and pulling my face to his. The kiss was sweet and over much too soon. And then he was backing away, his eyes still on mine. With a wink and a smile, Asher finally turned his back to me and headed toward the cabin alone.

As soon as Asher was through the side door, I took off running into the woods, far less careful than I'd been before. It was darker than in my dream and I fought to see more than a few feet in front of me. A couple of times I narrowly avoided running head on into a tree and had to push off the damp bark to keep from colliding with it. Sticks and rocks seemed to jump out in front of my feet, threatening to trip me and leave me sprawled across the tightly packed dirt. I somehow managed to stay upright, and after ten minutes, I slowed to a light jog, wondering how far into the woods I'd have to go to find another human being. Right now, all I could hear was my own breathing. Even the typical sounds that one would find in the forest seemed to be gone. There was just silence.

I turned around in circles, trying to figure out where Abby or Colette might've gone, looking for any sign that they'd even been this way. But there was nothing. Just darkness and stillness and silence.

Too much silence.

And then, it was like all the sound in the whole forest came rushing at me at once. There were screams and howls, bugs fluttering, birds squawking, the rattling of wind through the leaves. Before I even knew what was happening, I was on my back and was being dragged by my ankles through the woods. My brain was fighting to keep up and it took a few seconds to realize that the yells I'd heard were actually coming from me. Leaves and twigs embedded themselves into my hair, creating a rat's nest of serious proportions and partially obstructing my view of the forest as we blew by. I reached out blindly, hoping to catch ahold of something to stop my momentum, but my hands came up empty. Nobody was pulling me and from what I could see, there was no rope tied to my feet. Yet, I was definitely being dragged against my will somewhere into the woods.

I tried to pull myself up into a sitting position, but as soon as I'd gotten halfway there, I began to tumble and roll, hitting every part of my body before skidding to a complete stop. Breathing heavily and still trying to get my bearings, I stumbled to my feet and looked around, expecting to see the person who'd summoned me. But there was no one.

“Who's there?” I screamed, no longer worried about getting caught, because it was clear I already had been. A fact I was
not
happy about, I might add. I was still disoriented and although I couldn't feel the extent of my injuries, I knew I'd be hurting in the morning.

“I know you're out here!” I yelled, louder this time. I was growing more and more agitated with every passing second and wasn't sure what I was going to do when Abby
did
step out of the shadows.

What I heard next, though, wasn't a voice. It was more of a grunting. At first, I couldn't tell which direction it was coming from, but as I began to walk around, the sound got louder. I rushed down a path behind me, searching frantically for the source of the noises.

It was too dark to see at first, but as I ran closer, what loomed in front of me began to get clearer. In the beginning it was just a shape above me. I thought it was a part of a tree moving in the wind.

It wasn't.

As I crept up to it, I began to make out a pair of legs. They swayed in the air less than ten feet away from me, and were just about eye level. I made out a pair of arms next, resting limply against an equally limp body. Finally, my eyes made their way up to the head of the person. It was cocked grotesquely to the side, eyes wide and mouth open as if midscream. Only, there was no sound coming out. Just a look of sheer terror staring back at me.

The body hung from the tree, periodic gusts of wind giving it the appearance of a puppet being controlled by its master.

I took a few hesitant steps forward until I was able to make out the face of the victim. That's when I began to scream.

“Colette!” I shrieked, rushing toward my friend.

I'd barely made it a few feet before someone stepped onto the path in front of me, blocking me from my intended destination. It was a figure, once again sporting a long cloaklike garment that covered the wearer from head to toe. Since it was practically pitch black underneath the forest trees, it was impossible for me to see the face of my assailant.

I knew it was most likely Abby, and that made me mad as hell, but I was going to have to deal with my feelings later. I needed to get Colette down from where she'd been strung. It was a sight I'd seen far too many times in my dreams, and only recently experienced myself. But Colette looked scary up there. Too still despite the swaying. I prayed that she was okay and that I'd be able to get to her in time. I
had
to get to her in time.

I started to rush toward Abby, planning on tossing her aside before continuing on to Colette, but as I moved, two more shrouded figures stepped onto the path, joining the body I'd earlier thought was Abby.

Now I had no idea who was in front of me.

“It would be in your best interest if you moved out of my way. Like,
now
,” I said angrily.

I took a step to my right, and annoyingly, so did the three of them. They followed me again when I moved back the other way. I stopped and folded my arms over my chest, before cocking my head to the side.

“Okay, now you're seriously starting to piss me off,” I said. “And when I get mad, I get all fight-y. People get hurt. It's a bad scene all around. Hell hath no fury like a witch scorned and all that. Now
move
or I'll move you.”

Instead, they just stood there staring at me through the black spaces underneath their oversize hoods. It was eerie not knowing who was under them. Or what, considering no one had spoken yet. Was it possible they were something else entirely?

I guess we'll see soon enough
.

“Your funeral,” I said, shrugging before running straight at them.

My enemies weren't ready for my attack, which I quickly decided would be of a more physical nature, and as I threw my leg upward and flew through the air, they staggered backward slightly, trying to avoid the hit. But I was right on target and my flip-flopped feet made contact with the solar plexus of the center figure. A satisfying “ooof” escaped the mouth of the person and I watched as they fell to the ground and rolled a few times before coming to a stop under a nearby tree.

Barely slowing, I blocked a few punches the cloak to my right hurled my way, then made a few jabs of my own. Each connected with various places on the person's body and reverberated up my arm. I still may not have known exactly who was under the robes, but it was clear they were hurtable.

The second person fell to their knees just as I felt my hair being yanked backward. I was forced to follow the momentum of my assailant, or risk losing the locks I'd grown out for years, and found myself being turned in a circle before coming face-to-face with another of the goons. I tried to peer through my hair and into the person's face, but my view was totally obstructed.

Doing the next best thing, I grabbed the wrist of the hand that was still gripping me and pulled it toward me as I performed a high kick that would've made my old cheer coach cry, socking the person upside the head. Flexibility had always been a strength of mine and it looked like even though I'd been out of practice for a while, I still had it.

Another one bit the dust.

This finally freed me to head for Colette, my adrenaline pumping like crazy now. So much so, that when another robed shape came at me from the left I didn't think before acting. This one was new, joining in the fight midway through, but I didn't care. As number four dived straight for my legs to try to take me down, I jumped into the air, reaching for a sturdy branch above me. My fingers gripped the rough bark as I swung my body forward like an Olympic gymnast and pulled myself up and over the branch like it was a bar, and then watched as the figure slid across the dirt and hit the trunk below. I continued to circle the limb until I'd completed the rotation and jumped back down to the ground beside my attacker, who was no longer moving.

Closing the distance between Colette and me, I found myself hesitating. What if she was dead? Would she be cold already? How would I get her back to the cabin? Fear engulfed me as I was brought back to the moment that I'd realized my mom was no longer alive. I'd totally lost it then. It had taken me forever to even
begin
to deal with the loss.

Get her down now, Hadley!
The words seemed to scream their way through my head, despite the morbid memories.

Lifting up onto my tiptoes, I grabbed Colette around the shins and tried to push her upward in an attempt to either get her down or make it so there was some slack on the rope. Neither worked and I strained to see what I was dealing with.

Only, when I looked up I nearly let go of Colette altogether.

There was no rope
.

In fact, there was
nothing
holding her up in the air at all. She was simply floating there above me. Like a ghost.

Still, just because there wasn't a noose around her neck didn't mean she was free from danger. Not from whatever magic had her in its grip at least. Taking a step back, I squared my shoulders and forced myself to breathe deeply. There wasn't enough time to calm myself, so after inhaling twice, I aimed and let loose the spell a half a foot above Colette's head.

“Exbiliby totalitum!” I yelled. The trunk behind Colette exploded into splinters.

Damn. Missed.

I could hear footsteps falling on the forest floor behind me. Without turning, I knew that more people had joined the previous four. Which meant this was going to get real ugly, real fast if I didn't get Colette down. Now. And even then, I wasn't sure I could defend us both.

Starting to panic, I tried again.

“Exbiliby totalitum!”

This time I could feel the magic being severed, and I rushed forward to catch Colette as she fell. Luckily, I was able to soften most of the blow . . . for her, at least. I, however, fell under her weight, my hip smacking the ground hard. I felt a burst of pain as something sharp ripped through my clothes and into my skin.

“Mother of magic!” I screamed out loud, but didn't let go of Colette.

I wanted to inspect my injury, but one look up showed that the figures were almost on us. So I struggled to a standing position, and forced the pain down.

No time. Toughen up. Think fast.

I tried to take a step with my bad leg and it nearly buckled underneath me.

This is not good
.

“Colette!” I yelled, glancing back at my friend and seeing her wince slightly.

A wave of joy flowed through me at this slightest of movements. It meant that Colette was still alive. Now if I could just get her to become functional again, we might get out of this alive. . . .

I turned back to the robed gang running up behind me. There were seven of them now. Most of the ones that I'd previously left on the forest floor were up again, seeming none the worse for wear. I'd been able to handle four of them earlier, but that had been with my adrenaline running on full blast and no complications. Defending a passed-out Colette, while suffering from a bum hip, were both complications.

Groaning through the pain, I took a sturdier stance and then closed my eyes to concentrate. Feeling the power building up inside my body, I focused on what I was trying to do. It was only for a few seconds, but it was enough to channel my gifts toward my enemies. Opening my eyes again, I concentrated on the middle of the flock flying toward me.

“Immobius totarium!”

I yelled it with as much force as I could, my arms raised as if to physically stop them. All seven of them immediately froze mid-run. It was like hitting the pause button on the DVD player. They were immobile.

For now.

My hands fixed on the dark figures, I peeked back at Colette, who still hadn't moved. Taking a careful step backward, and then another, I made my way to where she lay. Her glasses were on the ground a few feet away and her clothes were just as dirty as mine.

“Colette!” I yelled, trying to get her attention.

Nothing.

“CO-LETTE!” My cheer voice somehow broke through and her eyes fluttered open and looked up at me groggily.

“What?” she asked. Her voice was hoarse and she immediately brought her hands to her throat, rubbing it gingerly. Then, realizing where we were, she started to panic. Colette rushed to her feet as she spotted the group of caped bad-guys behind me, and then tripped over a fallen branch, ending up back on the ground.

“Chill out. They're frozen,” I assured her.

She squinted to try to see for herself that what I was saying was true. I used a spell to send her glasses through the air and back onto her face where they belonged.

Colette didn't seem any happier being able to see now that she could accurately count how many people were in front of us. But at least she was awake. That was certainly a plus.

“We
need
to get out of here,” Colette said, inching toward me as she spoke.

“I'm right behind you,” I answered.

We began to make our way around the motley crew of hooded shadows and at first I was just happy to be getting away from them. But then it hit me. I still had no idea who they were.

And I needed to know my enemy.

“I don't
feel
you right behind me,” Colette said, reaching back for my hand and only getting air.

“Sorry, Cole. There's something I have to do first,” I said, slowing down next to one of the shrouded figures. “You can go on ahead if you want. But I have to find out who these guys are.”