Witch Hunt

Chapter 21

The time ticked by very slowly. I took the opportunity to destroy Jess's manicure, and to spread a sort of awareness through the house. It was a bit like doing the ghost thing, but more general. After an hour of experimenting I was fairly sure that there were seven people in the house, not including the guys and myself. Jess was out cold, there was the still-unnamed man in the kitchen with me, Naomi seemed to be asleep in a room with another woman, and Nathaniel, the grandmotherly lady and another man were back in the room with the executive desk.

I thought maybe I'd be able to feel the stone, powerful as it apparently was. But I couldn't.

At exactly midnight the man who'd been talking to Nathaniel came to relieve me. I said as little as possible and escaped the room. My idea of the layout of the house was a bit vague – floating through walls is quite different to having to use doorways, but eventually I found the room with the polished desk. The door was open and Nathaniel and the old lady were still inside.

"What do you want Jessica?" asked Nathaniel as I stepped through the doorway. I got the impression he and Jess didn't get along all that well.

"I was wondering if there was any progress on the other two…Sons?" I wasn't sure if they called us witches or targets or what.

"No," the old lady replied softly. She was, as I said, very grandmotherly. Soft and jowl-y and wearing her grey hair all fluffed up to make it look thicker than it really was. It was kind of off-putting actually. She certainly didn't look like a witch hunter.

New tack. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, thank you. Perhaps you should get some sleep."

I knew a dismissal when I heard one.

"Yeah," I fake yawned. "Probably." As I turned to go, I swept one last glance around the room. No sign of the rock.

Summer? It was Pogue's voice in my head. I walked calmly away from the creepy granny lady, hoping she hadn't noticed my flinch of surprise.

Pogue. I thought. Where have you been?

Looking for help.

Took you long enough.

Yeah. My dad's out of town, and Tyler's dad wasn't at their house.

You found him though.

Eventually. We're still about a mile away. What's the situation?

The others are still locked up. The hunters are still hunting for you two. Haven't heard them mention any of your fathers.

The others are still locked up? Came a new voice. I leaned back against the wall of the room I was in so that I could focus on the conversation in my head. Turns out having two people in your head is not fun.

Mr Simms? I guessed.

Yes Summer. Now you said that the others are still locked up?

Well, yeah. I'm slightly outnumbered and they've got this stone…

But you're free. Mr Simms interrupted.

Yeah. I knocked out one of the girls and made myself look like her.

What else can you tell us?

There are seven hunters in the house. They have this stone though, which controls these darklings and the metal bands that are stopping the others from Using.

Only seven?

But there are more out looking for Pogue and Caleb I think.

Tell me about the darklings.

Well, they're not like the normal ones. Normal darklings, that's a laugh. They're… terrifying. They make you so scared you can't move. And, I think maybe they can find witches, at least around the house. I can't believe we just happened to stumble on them.

Do you think that three of us could overpower them?

I… I don't know. I don't think it matters how many of you there are. The darklings are just as terrifying.

Well, do you think you could get this stone?

Umm, maybe?

It seems to be the key, Summer. Without it, the hunters can't control the darklings or keep the other boys from Using. If those darklings are as bad as you say, then we can't risk getting closer.

Ok. I'll try. I'll let you know what happens.

Be careful. Pogue chimed in, just as I pushed myself up from the wall.

I will.

The Power was still in me. I'd gotten so used to it in the last few hours that I barely noticed its comforting presence. The pull to Use was still affecting me, and it kept getting stronger, but I was just accepting it. And Using.

I could do anything with this Power. But how to get the stone? Jess obviously didn't have enough clout to get the stone for herself; she didn't even seem to be in the inner circle. So my disguise wasn't going to be very useful.

I padded along a hallway until I found another bathroom. Shutting the door carefully I went to stand in front of the mirror. I bit my lip, and Jess's face did the same. Maybe… a blur of black lifted away from me and suddenly I looked like me again. I didn't even need to concentrate. As soon as I thought it, my reflection disappeared from in front of me. I held my hand up to check – no sign of it.

It was actually a little freaky, staring straight through where I knew my hand was. I did a quick sweep through the house with my new-found awareness to check that there was noone in the corridor outside the bathroom, then opened the door. Figured that a door opening by itself might give me away a little.

Nathaniel was still with the creepy granny. I retraced my steps to their meeting and stood outside, eavesdropping in person. I only heard one word – goodnight – before Nathaniel came swiftly through the doorway. I flattened myself against the wall so that we wouldn't collide. I had a quick decision to make – follow the blonde man or search their headquarters? The old lady's the leader, I decided. Hopefully she's in charge of the rock.

Luckily the door still stood open. I peered around the doorframe to watch the old lady. She was just closing one of the desk drawers. I heard a lock turn and watched as she slipped the key into her pocket, then quickly moved back out of the way as she left the room.

This was all turning out to be too easy.