Part Six: The Most Dangerous Game

"Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift? If I wish to hunt, why should I not?."'

- General Zaroff, The Most Dangerous Game

Things got a bit confusing after that. Greg and Red started running, and Toby just stood there, gawking. I'm afraid I took off running, too, without a thought to Judy or the others.

It didn't take long to figure out what Ash had done with that first spell. The forest was now somehow smaller. No matter where I ran, I couldn't find the path out. And no matter where I headed, the screaming never got any further away. He'd trapped us in the forest somehow before his dramatic reveal, and now he would hunt us down at his leisure.

The screams trailed off into sobs, and I heard Ash saying something to Judy. I heard Judy wail something in return. Then I heard nothing.

Guilt struck me hard in the face. Had he killed her? I'd never been so terrified in my life, but nevertheless I just couldn't get the thought out of my head that I should've tried to help her somehow. Even if she was a bitch, she didn't deserve to die.

But when I crept back to the clearing, with the idea that maybe, just maybe, I might come up with an idea once I saw the situation…Ash and Judy were nowhere to be seen. Just burning candles around a circle of salt.

And Toby, still frozen in place. "Oh shit. Ohshitoshitoshit," he repeated. He'd wet himself. I tried to attract his attention, but he was beyond anyone's reach now. "He took her. Oh shit."

Run, you idiot! I thought at him, but he just stood there as Ash coalesced before him in a swirl of robes, took his unresisting arm, steered him a few steps away into the line, and vanished with him.

No, he wasn't out to kill us, he was going to drag us all off to the Ever After.

I ordered myself to get a grip and think. Running was out. Ash had trapped us good, that was clear. Even as I watched, Red stumbled back into the clearing, reeling and dazed. A tree branch must have whacked him and blood ran from a cut on his scalp. He stumbled across the expanse, knocked over a candle, and vanished back into the woods again.

Ash reappeared, eyes alive with a fierce triumph. He was enjoying this. "Two down," he said to himself, and slowly scanned the clearing, listening. I could hear the crashing sounds of Red and Greg somewhere out there. Ash's eyes scanned right past the bushes I hid behind, and he took a long breath. He bent and brushed a finger through the grass, lifting it to his lips. Blood. Red's blood. He smiled wickedly and vanished, smoke tendrils curling toward where Red had stumbled into the woods before they, too, vanished.

It was only a matter of time before he picked us all off. My eyes fell on the circle. It was my only chance. If I could get inside it, raise it…

I took a deep, panicked breath and dashed forward. With trembling hands I repaired the broken salt line. After a moment's thought, I grabbed the pocketknife from my belt and cut my finger, rather badly. Still have the scar, right here. But it was blood I wanted. I dripped my blood on the salt, tying it to me now. Finished with that task, I righted the candle and closed my eyes, drawing on the ley line for the power I needed. It didn't help my concentration that I could now hear one of the boys screaming in the distance. Red, I thought. The agonized sounds ceased. Three down.

Last life lesson, kid: Learn to set an instant circle with a trigger word. If you're stupid enough to summon a demon, your life may depend on it. Those were the longest five minutes of my life.

The circle rose before me, shimmering, just as Greg gave a pained shout that ended abruptly. I deflated. Greg was doomed, now, too. I focused on the circle that just might save my ass. I knew it was sound, and built properly, but was it strong enough? Or rather, was I strong enough to hold a circle meant for five, all by myself? If I couldn't, it'd cost me my soul, my sanity, and…I couldn't even conceive what else might happen, but it wouldn't be pleasant. They ain't called 'demons' because they're cute and cuddly, after all.

"Well, now, aren't you the resourceful little witch." Ash had Greg over his shoulder like a sack of grain, and was moseying over to my circle looking flushed and pleased. "Very nice," he added, and poked at it with a finger. It held. For the moment.

I said nothing. What was there to say? What did you say to someone who had betrayed you so utterly?

Greg moved a little, but it was clear that he was hurting too much to struggle in earnest. Ash dropped him heavily onto the ground before the circle and he groaned. My eyes followed him for a moment, but it was Ash who had all of my attention.

Ash made a slow circuit of my circle, probing it here and there. Greg made an attempt to rise at one point, and Ash leisurely strolled over and kicked him in the face before returning to his slow testing of my circle. When he was finished, he sat down in a chair that hadn't been there before, and deliberately put his boots on Greg's prone form as if he were nothing more than an ottoman. The shift in his behavior was absolutely horrifying. He sipped a glass of wine that appeared out of nowhere and contemplated me thoughtfully.

Yeah, I'm going to tell you exactly what he said, near as I can remember it. You need to know what you're dealing with. What really happens to the witches- and humans- that they kidnap.

And keep your mitts off my scotch, it's not for you.