Chapter 13

Dusk awoke first. She was laying on a cold, metal floor a prison cell. She groaned as she sat up and the room spun around. Aw fuck. She closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her forehead. While she'd suffered far stronger hangovers before, her current condition was still rough. She crawled over to the cell bars and leaned against them. She took some time to collect herself, and unlike her hangovers, the throbbing in her head resided after a several minutes. More awake, she assessed her surroundings. Luna and Thorn were in the cell with her, the later still had the cable coiled around her; both were still passed out from whatever spell was cast on them.

The blonde reached for her knife and found the sheath frowned. She looked around the room a bit more. Aside from the cell, there was a table by a small door that had all their stuff on it. And that was it.

Dusk sighed. She crawled over to Thorn. Her friend was in terrible shape, far worse than she expected. Thorn's face was bruised and burnt while a gash crossed her forehead caking her bangs in blood. Her clothes were charred and stained with blood.

"Jeeze Thorn," Dusk sighed.

Thorn had put her life on the line fighting Matella to protect her and Luna and Dusk could only imagine what kind of torture the cultist put her friend through. But now Thorn was laying on the floor bleeding; she needed someone to help her.

"Hey Thorn wake up," Dusk said giving her friend a gentle nudge. The Wiccan groaned, but wouldn't wake.

Dusk decided to check on the cable. It resembled a bike cable and there appeared to be silver intertwined within it. Dusk carefully turned Thorn onto her side. Much like a bike chain, the cable had a locking mechanism that was resting on Thorn's back. It was round with white hexagram on it. Dusk fiddled with it but it wouldn't open; she guessed it was magic.

Dusk frowned and she carefully turned the Wiccan onto her back. Having no luck with getting Thorn up, she made her way to Luna. The redhead was resting against the bars not far from them.

"Luna you need to get up," she said gently tapping Luna's face. The redhead shifted and mumbled something incoherent before passing back out.

"Damnit," Dusk muttered.

Creeeaaak!

Dusk turned her head as the door opened. A cultist entered the room pushing in a cloth-covered cart.

Dusk jumped to her feet and pounded on the cage.

"Let us out you bastard!" the blonde shouted.

The cultist ignored her and simply wheeled the cart next to the table and left the room. Dusk had a feeling that whatever was under the cloth wasn't good.

Dusk ran back to Luna. If anyone could figure a way out of this, it'd be Luna.

"Sorry about this, but you need to get up right now," Dusk said and she slapped her unconscious friend across the face.

"OWWW!" Luna screamed. She rubbed her face and groaned from the likely headache she had.

"Sorry, but you weren't getting up," Dusk hastily apologized as she went over Thorn. Dusk bit her lip and she hesitated. "Sorry Thorn." She slapped Thorn the same way she slapped Luna.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" the Wiccan shouted as she rolled onto her side.

"I'm really, really sorry Thorn, but we got problems," Dusk said turning her attention to the opening door.

Thorn wanted to rub her cheek as she was pretty sure Dusk left a handprint there. In fact, her face hurt more than the headache. But the cable was still wrapped around her preventing her from doing so. Despite her physical condition, she was glad Dusk woke her up—even if her method of doing so was unpleasant—as four cultists stood outside the cell.

"Looks like they're awake," the first cultist said.

"Yeah, why don't you three sing us a song," a second cultist teased.

Dusk cursed them off, which elicited laughter from all but one of the cultists.

"Hehehe, blondie's cute when she's all riled up," the first cultist laughed.

Dusk pounded on the bars even harder, cursing up a storm; the three cultists continued to laugh.

"Dusk, ignore them," Thorn said as she managed sit herself upright. Dusk backed away from the bars.

"Witchy you're no fun," the second cultist said. Thorn gave him no attention.

"Alright, don't make them sing. Their music is trash," the third cultist said while removing the cloth from the cart. Unfortunately, the cultist blocked Thorn's view of whatever he was organizing on the cart was on it.

"Well I've never heard their songs before," the second said.

The third cultist pulled out a phone and after a few moments, "Earth, Wind, Fire & Air" was playing.

"See. Preachy trash," the third cultist said.

"They're not that bad," the second countered. "Hey, George likes them."

The fourth cultist, who had previously been silent, was humming along to the song. Thorn quietly chuckled to herself as she watched the biggest of the four cultists enjoy the song.

"My daughter listens to them," George said, annoyed at his accomplices.

"Oh," the cultist with the phone said as he quickly stopped the music and they dropped the subject.

The cultists were quiet and just worked on whatever was on the cart. After a few minutes of work, the first cultist turned around and approached the cell with a gun drawn.

"Okay," he said tapping the bars with the gun. "You girls like parties?"

Thorn shot her friends a confused glance. None of them expected that question.

"What's it to you?" Thorn grunted.

"Well, we made a few calls, casted a few illusion spells and…" he paused. "After a successful concert, you three were seen at a party in Albany. You all hit the booze and drugs a bit too hard and tomorrow we're all mourning the tragic loss of three young musicians to drug abuse."

Thorn's heart sank when she heard what the cultists planned to do them; taking a bullet to the head was a preferable fate.

"You sick fucks," Thorn said trying to hold back her tears.

"Not my call," the first cultist said matter-of-factly before returning to the cart.

Luna quietly curled up against the cell bars and sat in fetal position. She just looked at the ground, tired and defeated. Dusk slammed herself against the cell's door in a vain attempt to open it, swearing and threatening the cultists.

"Damnit! This stuff won't kill them fast enough," the third cultist said picking up a bottle of pills.

"Ugh, let's get the stronger stuff," the first cultist said.

The cultists left the room, with George briefly looking back at the Hex Girls before leaving.

Alone with her friends, Thorn could no longer hold back the flood of emotions that had been accumulating since the start of their occult nights; she cried.

"I'm sorry."

Tears rolled down her bruised and reddening face, mixing with the dry blood. Her heavy sobs caused her physical pain, but she didn't care, if anything she deserved it.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Dusk asked.

"For everything!" Thorn said between sobs. "For making you guys come here. For putting us in danger." She paused, her crying became too much. "For being selfish." She looked away from Dusk and Luna, too ashamed to even look at them. "We're going to die here, and it's all my fault."

"Don't say that," Dusk said. She sat down next to Thorn.

"Why not? It's true. I came here wanting to learn more about myself and now we're going to OD," Thorn sobbed.

"Sally, don't blame yourself for being human," Luna said breaking the somber silence that had formed. "Anyone in your shoes would want answers about themselves."

Thorn looked to her redheaded friend and shook her head. "But I still put us in danger."

"We chose to come here and put ourselves in danger," Dusk said putting a hand on Thorn's shoulder.

"Besides," Luna added. "You put yourself in harm's way to save us from Matella; if you didn't do that, we'd already be dead."

Their attempts to comfort her were admirable, but Thorn was still full of guilt and self-hatred. She had been so caught up in her selfish desire to find answers about herself that she ignored all the warning signs and her friends suffered for it. Even if Dusk and Luna forgave her, she couldn't forgive herself for allowing this to happen.

"We'll figure a way out of this," Dusk said wiping Thorn's tears away for her.

Those words would be put to the test as the door opened and the cultists returned carrying small bags of round pills. The first cultist grounded them up, placed the powder in a glass and then filled it with cheap liquor. His colleagues made two more drinks.

"Who wants the first one?" the cultist mocked. The second cultist unlocked the cell door while pointing a handgun at the girls.

The three cultists entered the cell and George blocked the girls' sole escape route. Thorn tried to move away but with the snare and her bad leg, she didn't get far. She screamed as the first cultist grabbed her leg and dragged her closer to him. She tried tapping into her magic, but nothing manifested, not even telekinesis; it was like something was impeding her magic. Terrified, she kicked, flailed and shouted in a desperate bid to escape her assailant, but the cultist pinned her down with his weight. He shifted his weight onto Thorn's injured leg and she screamed even louder. Dusk and Luna came to her defense, hitting and punching the cultist. But Thorn's flicker of hope was snuffed out as her friends were torn away from her by the other two cultists.

"Open wide," the cultist said as he grabbed Thorn's chin to pry open her mouth.

She strained her neck trying to turn away from him, doing everything in her power to keep her mouth shut. Yet little by little, her mouth was opened. Please. No. She watched with teary eyes as the glass was raised to her lips.

BANG!

The spiked drink fell away from her and she felt something spray onto her face before the cultist collapsed onto her.

Bang! Bang!

Thorn laid on the floor shuddering. Her heartbeat was hastened and her breathing was shortened. She tried to wiggle free, but there was too much weight on her. She slowly raised her head to assess herself. She froze. He was sprawled across her with his head face down on her shoulder but that wasn't what troubled her. In a daze, she stared at the dark red spot slowly expanding across the back of his head. She wanted to look away, but she was transfixed by the disturbing sight.

Thorn flinched as the body was rolled off her by the hulking figure that was George.

"Thorn!" Dusk and Luna cried. Thorn barely heard them; she was fixated on the corpse.

Her friends helped Thorn to her feet.

"You okay?" Dusk asked.

Thorn blinked a few times, coming out of her horrid trance. She gave a small nod in acknowledgement. She glanced back at the corpse and noticed two more bodies next to it.

"Don't look at them," Luna said, forcibly turning Thorn away from the body and toward her and Dusk. Luna looked scared, Dusk was in better condition, though there was a hint of fear in the blonde's eyes.

Thorn began to whimper and her friends hugged her. Dusk wiped Thorn's face with her sleeve; it was stained with small streaks of blood. But Thorn didn't care about that nor did she care about the pain shooting up her leg. She leaned her head onto one of their shoulders and cried.

"It's okay," Luna softly said.

None of the Hex Girls said anything else as the Wiccan wept in the embrace of her friends.

"Let me unsnare her," George said breaking the long silence.

Thorn payed him no attention as he fiddled with the lock and after a few moments, the snare fell off her. With her arms freed, she hugged her friends tightly, keeping them as close to her as possible.

"Why'd you save us?" Luna asked after several minutes; she released herself from the group hug though Thorn still clung fiercely to Dusk, still weeping.

Instead of answering, George pointed at Thorn's leg. "We need to heal her." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, clay tablet with a strange series of lines and marks that vaguely resembled a heart. "Sit her back down."

Dusk and Luna just nodded. Thorn shuddered and winced as they tried to help her sit back down.

"No," Thorn softly said as she gripped Dusk's arm tighter.

"Hey, you need sit down so we can help you," Dusk said.

"Relax," Luna said placing her arm around Thorn. "We're not going anywhere."

Thorn's cries softened and she allowed herself to be sat down by her friends.

"Lean back," George said to Thorn.

Thorn leaned back against the cold floor. She could see Dusk and Luna at her side, doing their best to keep a smile on their faces and mask their fears.

George knelt down and carefully removed Thorn's shoe and sock; the poor girl winced from the sudden jolt of pain. While she couldn't see the entire damage to her leg, she was horrified to see that her ankle was swollen and her foot was bent in an awkward position.

"Hold her still," George said to Dusk and Luna as he placed the clay tablet on Thorn's foot. "This is going to hurt."

He tapped the tablet and it immediately turned red. Thorn shrieked as she felt a surge of magic rush over her. She screamed and thrashed in agony; Dusk, Luna and George had to pin her down to keep her lashing out. The pain intensified around her ankle. There was a loud snap and her foot shifted into its correct position. The swelling rapidly declined until her ankle returned to normal, yet Thorn's screams only grew louder. The pain climbed up her leg as muscle and tendons reformed and reconnected. The pain continued to spread across her body, bruises, burns and cuts disappearing. Then with one last agonizing cry, the pain subsided and the tablet shattered.

Thorn whimpered as her friends helped her sit back up.

"You're looking pretty good now," Dusk teased in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Indeed, one couldn't physically tell Thorn had been in a fight, but the Wiccan's teary eyes told a different story.

Luna put Thorn's shoe and sock back on and shortly after, Thorn was back on her feet. Yet Thorn refused to let go of her friends and she hugged them again, her heavy sobbing the only sounds in the room.

"You wanted to know why I did it," George said after several minutes. There was a long pause. "I did it for my daughter."

Thorn glanced at the man. He removed his mask and threw it onto the floor. He was older, maybe late-forties or early fifties.

"What do you mean?" Luna inquired.

"I haven't seen her since my ex got full custody of her," George said turning to the girls. "But the last thing I did with her was take her to one of your concerts. That was one of the happiest days of her life." He paused in recollection. "She loves you three. She'd listen to your songs all the time and she got her fashion sense from you. Hell, back when I had the house, she and her friends would dress up as you three and pretend to put on a concert in the basement."

He smiled. It looked like the first smile he made in years. He made eye contact with Thorn.

"She looked up to you the most," he said. "She has the red highlights, played the guitar. But she'd also stand up for friends and strangers alike, really anyone who was pushed down." He paused. "After watching the security footage from the ceremonial room, I see where she got it from."

Thorn wiped away a tear, though it was more to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"Really?" Thorn finally said.

"Yeah," he sighed. "She's lost so much in recent years, I don't want her to lose her role models too."

Thorn was left speechless by George's tale. While she didn't know the full story behind the man and his daughter, it was enough to put extra pressure on her; not only had she had she put her friends in harm's way, but her actions nearly crushed an innocent girl's way of life, whose existence would've never crossed her mind. Thorn lowered her head; she even started to feel bad for the guy she took the car from. She didn't feel like the confident and brave woman she portrayed herself as on stage but rather a selfish, reckless girl who was in way over her head.

"You three need leave," George said exiting the cell and the Hex Girls followed him.

The girls retrieved their belongings and George directed them to the far wall of the room. He hit a switch on the wall and a secondary door opened.

"These passageways are for quickly transporting the most dangerous magical artifacts and creatures," George said gesturing for them to enter. "It'll take you to a storage room. Exit the room, go right and stay straight until you can't go any farther. The halls should be empty aside from a few guards as most people will be at the Revelation." He gave the girls a moment to memorize the directions. "There will be another hidden door there. Move quietly through the passage as you'll be adjacent to the ceremonial room and you can hear people through those walls. If you can get through that, you'll be home free."

When he was finished, he leaned up against the wall and poured himself a drink. He quickly downed it and then poured another.

Thorn and her friends hurried to the passage. Dusk took the lead and disappeared in the darkness. Thorn stopped and looked back to George.

"Thank you for saving us," Thorn meekly said. It was the least she could do given her current emotional state.

George nodded. "Believe in yourself. Others do, even if you don't. Don't fail 'em like I did." He finished his second drink.

"What are you going to do?" Luna asked.

"Don't worry about it," he replied as he placed his handgun on the cart before starring off into space. "Get outta here before they check up on us."

"Why don't you come with us?" Thorn quietly said, just loud enough for George to hear.

George shook his head and downed his second drink. "Even if I escape, these people don't forgive and they don't forget betrayal; they'll hunt me down till I'm dead and they'll go after my daughter to get to me. It's better for everyone if you just left me behind."

Thorn lowered her head. This man she didn't know gave up everything for her and all Thorn could do was say 'thank you.' She wiped away another tear and entered the darkness, with Luna following close behind. The redhead hit the switch and the door closed, leaving the three girls in complete darkness. Thorn barely made it ten feet when she heard a single gunshot go off, causing her to flinch. She felt sick. Four people were dead. And it was all her fault.