Disclaimer - I don't own anything.
I'm so sorry it's taken me a while to get this chapter out, but I hope you will agree it was worth the wait.
Feel free to let me know what you think.
The Curse of Jumanji.
"They certainly know how to be romantic, don't they?" Ethel commented wryly as they watched the ceremony the HeadHunters were busying themselves with. She, Mildred, Miranda and Bella was now trapped inside a wooden cage that had been lifted above the ground so they were overlooking their village/town, whatever.
The small group of witches had been trapped in the prison hut for what seemed like ages while they had listened to the activities outside the hut; there hadn't been any sounds from the HeadHunters to indicate they were preparing for one of their rituals, so the girls had been left to sit quietly in their cell. Bella had tried to make overtures of friendship to their fellow inmates, but it seemed even being imprisoned and being neighbours did not stop them from being hostile. Ethel had managed to grab Bella before one of the native savages could harm her from the other cells, and she had told her niece not to go near them again, though Bella's expression of fear had spoken volumes and made it clear the preteen was not going to try it again.
While they had been waiting, they had tried to come up with any kind of plan to escape, but it was mostly to keep their morale up.
The Chief had personally arrived at the prison hut with a number of warriors and they had manhandled the natives out of the hut - the natives had tried to put up a fight, but there had been too many HeadHunter warriors for them to fight, but Ethel had to admire them for even bothering though it wouldn't have made any difference. She guessed they knew their life expectancies were down, but they decided to try to go out fighting which to them was more likely to be a better option than having their heads cut off for the tribe's sick collection.
Ethel ground her teeth angrily, though not without too much force. She hated not being able to really use her magic in this place. She knew if they were back in their own world she would be able to curse them, badly! It was the least they deserved.
No sooner had the natives gone, but the High Priest and several of his acolytes and the Chief returned. The High Priest and his entourage had chanted in their guttural and grunting language, sprinkling Ethel and the other girls with some green coloured water, blowing some strange powders into their faces while the Chief watched with a cruelly twisting smile on his face.
While she had been blinking some of the powder out of her eyes after it had been blown into her face for the third time, and she had lashed out at them to stop doing it, earning her a slap around the face, while Mildred told her to keep calm, but the older witches had shared a look of dread. They both knew the HeadHunters were up to something big, but they didn't know enough about them to know what it was.
But they soon got their answer; Ethel couldn't believe that for all of their strange language which made no sense, but they probably thought the same as the witches - the HeadHunters could not understand English, but they made up for that with sign language. They actually knew some basic sign language, though they made it easy by bringing two warriors who were close to Mildred and her age, and they also brought in a couple who had some kind of fang necklace around both of their necks, but there was a piece of stone jewellery in the centre of the necklace, and then Mildred and Ethel had noticed a similar necklace but with a completely different stone jewellery design in the centre around the Chief's necklace.
The Spell had dropped in Ethel's and Mildred's minds when the Chief had placed a necklace around their necks and around the necks of the two warriors, both with matching stone jewellery.
The necklaces were the HeadHunter version of magical wedding rings. The Chief was betrothing her and Mildred to the warriors, but none of the witches knew what was going to happen to Bella or Miranda, and the Chief refused to tell them though whether they could actually understand the gist of what the chief was saying, the witches had no idea.
The reactions to her comment were mixed.
Bella shuddered.
Miranda gulped.
Mildred was silent, though she turned her head away from the image in front of them. The HeadHunters had dragged the natives and the witches from the cell to the place of sacrifice. While the witches had been shoved into a cage which had been lifted above the ground so they couldn't escape, the native prisoners who'd been caught by the HeadHunters were not so lucky.
All around the witches could see the heads collected by the tribe over the years, each of them in differing states of decomposition, and placed within special wooden recesses or cups, and as the ceremony went on it seemed every member of the tribe had come out to watch the grisly spectacle.
For Ethel and Mildred the sight of the tribe was nothing new - they had seen enough of the HeadHunters during their time in Jumanji to not be that surprised by them or by their appearance, but Bella and Miranda watched with interest since it took their minds away from what could await them while their older counterparts were fated to become wives to two warriors.
Like the men, the women were hideous creatures, only they were much thinner and smaller. Each one of them wore a set of clothes that put Bella in mind of a woven grass dress, or a poncho, while they wore crude sandals. They had long, scraggly hair, but the most disturbing thing about them was their eyes. They had big, massive eyes that seemed to bulge madly from their faces. Between the men and the women were the children of the tribe.
The boys were just miniature versions of the adult males. They carried smaller versions of the weapons the adult warriors used as well, showing they were destined to become warriors like their dads. The girls, likewise, were smaller carbon copies of the adult women in the tribe, right down to their small ponchos and sandals.
While the children weren't completely hideous to look at for the witches in the cage as they stood very still and watched the proceedings of the sacrifice with eager anticipation on some faces and pure sadistic glee on the others, it wasn't difficult for either Bella or Miranda to see they would become like their elders. More than a few of the children were smiling with bleeding gums and rotten, stumpy teeth, and the girls had identical bulging, insane eyes like the older women.
There were quite a few teenagers in the village, and they were standing close to the older generations of the HeadHunter's tribe, and most of them were already just like them in appearance which made it hard for the witches to tell the difference. While it looked like the roles of the people in the tribe were fixed from one person to another, the witches noticed quite a few young people wearing miniaturised versions of the robes worn by the High Priest's acolytes. Miranda noticed how one of those children was given a great deal of respect by the other children, whereas the others were slapped around by the others before the ceremony began. The new acolytes to the High Priest were left strictly alone and everyone bowed low to them which indicated their status within the tribe, but Miranda noticed more than a few of the next generation of acolytes seemed to enjoy the very real fear from the others. She guessed the new acolytes were mostly composed of bullies or children who had been bullied in the past but they now had the power to protect themselves and get away with whatever they wanted.
The idea of people abusing the power granted to them was nothing unusual for Miranda.
She had heard stories of witches and wizards who had abused the power of their roles simply because they believed themselves above it all. Sadly, Miranda had met quite a few children from magical families who already acted as though they had been given one of the Merlin or Morgana Awards, or had been apprenticed to a powerful sorcerer while everyone else had to attend a magical school, and a lot of the blame came from the Witches' code, particularly the inheritance laws if parents had more than one child.
Miranda might have been an eleven-year-old girl, but she had lost count of the number of times she had encountered families over the years who had tension because they knew one of their siblings would inherit everything. For some families, this wasn't a problem because they did their best to treat their children equally despite the code, but it didn't always work. Some families and she'd heard that Bella's own grandparents had treated Ethel like dirt while treating her Aunt Sybil like a human being while lauding Esmerelda and placing her on a broomstick-riding high because she was their heiress at the time, unfortunately did not care or give any thought about what kind of miserable pressure they were putting on their offspring. Sometimes it was a case of simple thoughtlessness, but sometimes it was not.
Miranda was snapped out of her thoughts when her heart suddenly jumped in her chest when she heard the sound of drums being beaten, and she looked up and saw that one of the natives had been dragged by the arms by two burly warriors by the arms towards the High Priest who was standing in the centre, looking on without any expression on his features. Miranda was disturbed she had not noticed the High Priest and his entourage before now, but she pushed it out of her mind as she watched in horror at what was going to happen; she knew the HeadHunters were going to kill the natives somehow, but while she didn't want to watch she couldn't help but ask herself if this was what the HeadHunters had in mind for her and Bella while Mildred and Ethel were married off to Merlin knew who.
The native was screaming in terror, and he tried to pull away, but the warriors were too strong and their grip was too tight - Miranda could see that their grip on both of the natives' arms was so tight it looked like the arms would be dislocated any second now. The native was tied to a post and something was shoved into his mouth to keep him quiet.
As soon as he was quiet, the High Priest and the acolytes and the rest of the tribe began to chant, their voices were growling and grunting as they sang what Miranda took to be some kind of song while the acolytes sprinkled the man with powders and with some kind of holy liquids. When they were finished, another pair of acolytes appeared and they were carrying long whips in their hands. They began to flog the native, who screamed in agony and shock as the tips of the whips began to flay his skin. Two more acolytes came forward, carrying clubs with big stones tied to them. Miranda heard Bella take a deep, sniffling breath next to her, both of them guessing what was going to come before the acolytes lifted the clubs and used them to smash the natives' feet and knee caps to bony pulp…Miranda closed her eyes in horror while the screams mingled with the sound of drums and the bloodthirsty cries and cheers from the HeadHunters.
After the native had been beaten to death, the HeadHunters dragged his mutilated body to the centre of the platform where a dark block of something that was either wood or stone, it was hard to tell and truthfully Miranda didn't really want to know what it was after having to listen and watch as the HeadHunters beat the native virtually to death, and judging from how he didn't move or made any other sound other than a whimper or a groan here and there, he was too out of it to notice anything while the Chief retrieved a massive weapon that put Miranda's mind to a giant axe, that was made of sharpened stone that was honed to a sharp edge.
Miranda looked away from the spectacle even as the HeadHunters began their drumming and their shouting and hooting for their Chief to do the deed and idly she noticed the others had turned their heads away as well. She felt a pair of arms snake around her waist and drew her closer to Mildred, while at the same time Bella was being held by her aunt. Miranda studied her best friend and saw Bella was trying desperately to block out the imminent sound of the axe cutting off that mans' head.
The drumbeats rose to a crescendo, and Miranda burrowed her head into Mildred's chest, hoping to block it out for herself before they heard a sound..
Suddenly they heard the HeadHunters scream in triumph, and Miranda opened her eyes and watched from where they were in the cage as the HeadHunters beat their clubs, spears and their axes to the ground.
But Miranda made the mistake of turning her head towards the platform. Mildred saw what she was doing, and immediately tried to stop her, but the older witch was just too late.
The Chief and the High Priest were standing before the tribe, holding between them the head of the native, a pool of blood on the dark stone.
"That's what's going to happen to me and Miranda, isn't it?"
Miranda turned and looked straight into Bella's stricken face. Bella was looking at the scene with tears trickling down her face, but there was an emotion there behind the fear Miranda couldn't identify. "They're going to sacrifice us, and they're going to take our heads off."
Ethel just hugged her niece close to her chest. "It might not happen-," she tried to say, but Miranda could see the logic behind her best friend's point. The Chief and the others hadn't exactly been clear about what their long term plans were where she and Bella were concerned. Mildred and Ethel's futures, such as they were, was clear enough - they were going to be forced to marry into the tribe, and Merlin only knew how that would go.
But she and Bella would be lucky enough to even have a future.
"Yes, it will!" Bella snapped, interrupting her aunt and glaring her down. "They're going to kill us!"
No-one had a chance to reply because suddenly they heard a gunshot ring out, and instantly the HeadHunters dropped as one as more bullets were shot. One bullet took down one of the High Priest's acolytes, making him scream with agony briefly while more shots rang out.
Bella dropped her glare and looked around with shock. "Wh-what's happening?"
Mildred was looking into the jungle. "Can't you guess?" she asked. "It's Van Pelt. I can see him at the edge of the settlement."
"Why's he doing this?" Bella asked quietly, watching the growing carnage with worry.
Mildred glanced at her briefly, but then she turned back to take in what the hunter was doing. The sound of heavy bullets being fired into the settlement filled the air, smashing into warriors and other people as they ran around, trying to take cover. Ethel joined Mildred and they both watched as Van Pelt walked into the settlement, firing a heavy pistol in one hand while in the other he carried a flaming torch. The witches realised what the torch was for when he crept closer into the village and stuck the flames underneath the matted thatched roofs which caught fire at once, sending more of the HeadHunters into a screaming panic even as the heavy bullets slammed into everyone.
A pair of warriors armed with axes and clubs tried to rush at Van Pelt, but the hunter shot them both in the head, making the skulls explode in blood and gore. Bella screamed and turned her head, shaking in horror at the sight, but Van Pelt continued shooting into the crowd before a loud roar of rage caught the hunters attention and made the witches look around and they saw the HeadHunter chief rushing towards Van Pelt with the same bloodied axe he'd used to decapitate the native's head a few minutes ago.
"Brave, isn't he?" Ethel whispered.
"Stupid, more like!" Mildred whispered back.
They were both right. Van Pelt waited until the HeadHunter chief was close enough as if savouring the moment, and he lifted the gun and fired. The HeadHunter chief dropped to the ground like a felled tree, but he wasn't the only one to be shot down by the hunter. Van Pelt laughed as he went around, either setting one hut after another alight while shooting anyone he caught in his sights.
When he was finished, the hunter walked slowly towards the cage - his eyes may have been focused on the witches currently trapped inside, but the witches all got the impression he was alert for anything, and they didn't blame him after the HeadHunter's Chief had tried to kill him.
Van Pelt came to a stop beneath the cage, chuckling. It sounded like pebbles being scraped against a blackboard. "So, here you are," he said ironically, "trapped and waiting to be sacrificed or married. 'Til death do us part, eh?" he laughed a rumbling laughed, the light from the sun above reflecting off of the gold tooth in his jaw.
Suddenly he stopped laughing. "It would be so easy to kill all of you here now, after all, you're not exactly going anywhere, eh?"
Turning to the others to see what their reactions were to Van Pelt's taunts, Mildred saw to her horror Ethel was about to open her big fat mouth and say something incredibly stupid, so she gently placed a hand on her shoulder, making the blonde turn to her angrily, but Mildred was used to Ethel's expressions to not be phased out, but she didn't think it was a good idea for Ethel to say something stupid to get them shot.
Van Pelt laughed when he saw the two older witches actions, but he grew tired of this sport. He holstered his pistol and he loaded a new magazine into his rifle and brought it up to his shoulder to fire. The witches cried out and backed away. None of them bothered trying to use magic to either get out or get rid of the hunter - they knew it wouldn't work so there was no real point, but Van Pelt paid them no heed as he opened fire at the tight rope the HeadHunters had used to bind the cage locked. The bullet whizzed out, slicing the rope, but the hunter didn't give the witches a chance to try to get out. He fired another shot at the thicker rope holding the cage, and it fell to the ground.
The witches screamed as the wood smashed into the ground, but they were free. Miranda groaned as she'd smashed into the bars and bounced as the cage bounced lightly before coming to a stop.
"Now, I'm going to count to eleven. By the time I finish, you're to be out of that cage and in the jungle," Van Pelt said.
"Why are you doing this?" Bella asked.
Van Pelt chuckled, somehow making his jaw and teeth look crooked. "That's easy, dearie. In that cage, it was unsporting to kill you, but when you're free it makes the hunt more interesting. I'm going to count down now."
The hunter turned around and closed his eyes. "One…. two," he said and proceeded to count much higher.
While he was counting, Ethel turned to the others. "Lets get out of here," she said, and they immediately worked to get themselves out of the cage, but the problem was when Van Pelt had fired at the cage, it had rolled around and the door was underneath their bodies, so they had to roll the cage back so Mildred could open it up. It cost them quite a few numbers, and Van Pelt had reached eight by that time. Groaning and trying to ignore the pain in their aching limbs, the witches managed to get themselves out of the cage and run as fast as they could out of the village.
The hunt begins.