A groan filled the room and Hansel tried to swallow but his mouth was painfully dry. The pounding in his head was unrelenting and his back ached from lying on the cold hard floor. He took a moment to promise himself to stop drinking that much in the future; the hangover wasn't worth it. Knowing he was going to have to deal with the day eventually, he tried to open his eyes. The sticky dry substance on his eyelid pulled at the skin but kept it firmly shut. He moved his hand up to rub the sleep out of his eyes but came up short. Hansel tugged harder but the metal ring around his wrist held firmly.
Taking a deep breath he forced his eyes open; there was nothing but darkness and the returning memories of the night before. Andrea had done this. Was she in league with the witch? Two grand witches working together would be a first, but really something he should have considered. Now he was going to pay for his stupidity. Thankfully Gretel wasn't in town; if Ben and Edward had done their job, she'd be at least the next town over and moving further away from this mess.
Squirming around proved that his feet were bound like his hands. His shirt was gone and the stone sucked all the warmth from his body. Nimble fingers probed and explored everything within their reach. It wasn't the cold floor Hansel had been deposited on, rather a stone table. That revelation accompanied the foreboding thoughts of being the next meal. The surface was flat and smooth and a small trench ran along the edge of the table producing a narrow dip before the lip of the table. His inadequate investigation ended as the candles adorning the room spontaneously ignited, lighting the darkened cavern.
One by one the candles sputtered to life giving dimension to the desolate cave the witch hunter found himself helplessly restrained in. The black stone glistened with slime that weaved its way along the cracks in the rock. The fire in the fireplace roared up and the flames licked the black cauldron hanging over it. Hansel closed his eyes as the sudden shift in brightness burned his eyes.
"Well, look who finally decided to join the land of the living. I was beginning to think I hit you too hard," said Andrea as she walked into the room. He black dress flowed behind her like shadows in the night. Barely paying her captive any attention she walked straight to the cauldron and stirred the contents.
Hansel twisted his head to get a better look at the witch. She still looked like the beautiful woman that had offered to tend to his injuries not that long ago. Again he tried to pull at the chains that bound him to the table but they didn't budge.
Andrea muttered, "Almost ready." Hansel glared at her as she bustled around the room. She approached the bound man and set a small bowl of water on the stone altar. With a tenderness not thought possible from a bride of Satan, she began to clean the wound on the side of his head. Hansel watched as the water turned a pale shade of red from the blood that had dried around his eye.
"You know, I'm kind of disappointed," She began as she continued her ministrations, "after everything I heard about the famous witch hunters, I expected this to be more of a challenge."
Hansel's lips pressed in a thin line and his glare hardened. "You may have been able to get me, but you'll never be able to get to Gretel now," he spat.
"Gretel?" Andrea's lips parted in an evil smile, displaying her teeth like the fangs of a hungry wolf. "What would I want with her?"
Hansel's mask slipped for a moment. Alarm flickered in his pale eyes; it wasn't fear for himself so much as fear that he had inadvertently given the witch what she wanted. Gretel was the one Muriel has sot after; the child of a grand white witch. It was Gretel that took after their mother, kind and caring, with a penchant for magic. It was his sister that insisted that they be sure a woman was a witch before the town got their hands on them. It was her that lied and carried that damn wand around; what could they possibly want from him?
"I could wait another ten years and cut out her heart or I could use what's right in front of me. They all over looked the fact that you are the bastard off spring of a grand white witch too; fortunately, I know what to do with that." Andrea punctuated her point by digging her finger nail into the gash above Hansel's eye.
He sucked back a gasp and bit his lip hard at the sharp pain in his head. Hansel tried to pull his head away but he didn't have the freedom to escape her. His struggle only caused her to press harder. Andrea pulled her finger back and steady stream of warm blood ran down the side of his head.
The witch sucked the blood off of her finger. Hansel couldn't help but notice the way it stained her teeth pink. Andrea leaned in close and her warm breath caused his hair to prickle. "If handled correctly, you're an unlimited supply of power. It's in your blood." She ran her boney fingers over his bare chest stopping just above his heart. "As long as this keeps beating, I'll have everything I want."
"I haven't lost to a hag yet and you're not going to be the first," snapped Hansel. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of his fear. He always knew it would end bloody but his consolation was the fact that his sister was safe. She was safe from Andrea and she would be spared watching his end; that's what he would hold onto until the end.
"I don't want you to lose, I want you to bleed!" shrieked Andrea as she sliced at his chest with a curved dagger. She moved with the precision and skill of a butcher as she carved up her prey.
Hansel let out a pained moan as she sliced her way down his chest and across his stomach. Bright red ribbons of blood bloomed up and ran down towards the table. The cuts were deep enough to bleed for awhile but not deep enough to be life threatening. The silent cave filled with the steady splattering of his blood as it ran onto the altar, filled the narrow channel, and pooled at the bottom of the table where it dripped into a bowl below.
Someone cleared their throat just out of Hansel's line of vision and Andrea causally waved them away. Turning her attention back to her prize, she said, "We'll continue this later my dear boy. In the mean time, relax and enjoy yourself. You're going to be here for quite some time." With that she turned and left the cavern; the candles snuffing out with her departure. Hansel was left alone in the dark with nothing but the pounding of his heart and the pitter-patter of his essence running out of him.
