"We grabbed the cobwebs off the wall and used them to plug our ears". As Willow spoke, her ears both began to twitch uncomfortably. She gripped the comforter of the bed with her free hand, grimacing whenever she wasn't talking.
I wiggled slightly in hopes that my sickly sister would get tired of hugging me. I wanted to go over and comfort my old friend, maybe even help Mrs. Camilla clean her wounds, but Emira was dead set on holding me as closely as she could. Ever since she first spotted me in the hallway, she had been obsessed with "protecting" me.
It was a nice thought, but I'm pretty sure a witchling who couldn't even walk wouldn't do anything against a full-grown witch with an arsenal of illegal potions. Besides, she didn't have a weapon, and we sure as hell weren't going to give her one.
"We'll have to flush your ears out. That debris could cause an ear infection or even damage your eardrums depending on how far back it is" Mrs. Camila informed before going right back to tending to Willow.
"You should be more worried about magic deficiency" Gus responded. "Those wounds are going to need a lot of it to heal, and you haven't eaten in a while".
"Magic deficiency?".
"Yeah! Amity almost died of it last night because she hadn't eaten for an entire day! Her body was using more magic because she was injured, and her bile sack wasn't filling back up fast enough without food!" Luz spat like the very idea was the craziest thing she had ever heard.
Luz's mother turned towards me. Her eyes and mouth were both open as wide as they could be.
"Cariño, you poor thing! You're injured?!".
Great. It was bad enough that I had Luz on my ass about last night, but now her mother was as well? I prayed to the Titan that she wouldn't make as big of a fuss as her daughter did.
"It's only a bruise, Mrs. Camilla. It's not that big of a deal". I tried to sound assured, only to squeak out the last couple words.
"Bullshit!".
"Luz! Language!".
"Sorry, mamá. But it is a big deal. Agridulce, how many times do we have to tell you to take better care of yourself?".
Luz's eyes beautifully shimmered while she looked deep into mine. It took me a second to respond. The sight of how strong my girlfriend looked as she stared down at me took my breath away.
"It is ok. I've been resting, just like you said, and I had something to eat last night. If you should worry about anyone, you should be worried about Willow. She's the one who just risked her life by going into the basement".
"Your deflecting, Mittens" Edric piped in. I bared my fangs at him. A small growl rumbled in my throat.
"What happened next, Willow?" I grumbled.
"Boscha and I headed back the way we came, hoping we'd find some of the others. Well… we found Skara and Amelia, but they were… they were both dead" Willow stammered, trying to put it in the best way possible.
My heart dropped. A clump of grief suddenly filled my empty stomach. I couldn't stop my mouth from hanging open or my ears from folding down so the tips of them pointed towards the floor.
My reaction surprised me as much as the news did. The revelation hurt… badly hurt. Why did it hurt so bad?
Amelia and Skara were bullies, two witches I only hung out with because I was forced to. They made fun of everyone they deemed losers. They treated all the witches below them like a giant joke, especially Willow. They acted as if they were better than everyone else when all they did was be petty pricks.
Titandammit, I can't believe I was ever one of them!
That was exactly it. That's why it hurt so bad. Sure, most of the time, I acted like a witch I wasn't around them. But there were times that I genuinely enjoyed having them around.
Amelia was the only other witch who knew the difference between fan service and fan indulgence. You don't know how many times Boscha would just start bitching about a book and Amelia would literally chew her out for it. It was really the only time one of them would stop kissing Boscha's ass. One time, I jumped in while Boscha was ranting, and Amelia suddenly went, "Amity's an intellectual". So, every time we would start arguing about something stupid one of the girls would turn to me and go, "what does the intellectual think?".
And, this other time, there were a pair of black earrings that everyone else thought was way too small to waste money on. I really liked them, but I didn't want anyone to see me buy them. Then, when no one else was looking, Skara handed me a bag with the earrings inside. All she said was, "you needed to be treated", before just walking away.
And don't get me started on all the things that happened during grudgby season. Right before one of our biggest games of the season, Skara went around to each one of us and began to shake the shit out of us to hype us up. It pissed me off at the time which actually really helped during the game. Then some bastard playing for Glandus broke my hand the next season, so my other teammates cut the hand off the statue in front of their school and left a note that said, "you owed us a new one".
Titan, most of the time hanging around them made me want to gag myself. But, sometimes, they weren't really that bad of witches. And, besides, my anger was quite hypocritical. Sure, my pettiness was, mostly, an act but I still acted petty. Did I really have a right to be angry?
Yet, I still was along with being sad, shocked, and other emotions I couldn't name. And my anger wasn't all due to Amelia and Skara. It was one thing for the killer to try and kill me, but he injured Luz, almost killed Willow, and had now succeeded in killing five of my classmates. You couldn't blame me for being pissed at that sorry excuse of a witch.
"I'm so sorry, Willow. That sounds awful" Luz commented, her voice slightly cracking.
Gus placed his hand over his older friend's. She flinched, her wounds starting to sting even worse. That caused Gus to move his hand and instead lock eyes with her.
"No one should have to see something like that at your age" Camila joined in. "In fact, no one should ever have to see something like that at all".
"And how are you feeling?" I heard someone softly ask from behind me. I turned to face my brother to find his eyes on me.
"Who, me?".
"Yes, you. You grew up with them".
It took me a moment to decide what to say. I was feeling a lot of things but most of those things I didn't exactly want to share at that moment.
"Pissed. They risked their lives to try and help us and that rat bastard just… killed them".
"He won't get away with this, Amity" Luz reassured after scooching a bit closer to me. "He'll pay".
"His bloods not the key, Luz. It's just sticky red shit".
Emira's sudden hiss shocked everyone in the room. No one expected her to be listening with the way she was mindlessly staring off into nothing. Perhaps Luz moving towards her brought her attention back to the room.
"Is that supposed to mean something, Em?" Edric murmured.
His sister paid no mind to him. Her attention was sharply on Luz. Her ears slightly moved as if she was trying to listen to something closely.
"Joven" Camila called. "She is having a hard time perceiving her reality. She is probably hallucinating".
"She has a point," I argued with a shrug.
Just like everyone else in the room, I first thought Emira was talking nonsense. After all, she did say she saw me light the room on fire a little while before. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to realize that it made sense.
"You got something out of that?" Gus asked.
"We're all angry at the killer, and we all want to make sure he doesn't get away with this. But the most important thing right now is escaping". Emira nodded in agreement.
"Death will bring solace, but fire will bring us freedom".
Before anyone could respond, or hell, even think about that, the phone on the table lit up and an aged voice called out. It sounded like he was having a hard time pronouncing certain things, like his mouth was injured.
Speak of the demon.
"Attention hotel guest, I implore you to keep an eye out for another human in the establishment. Unlike your classmate, she is fully grown, and she is accompanied by a basilisk". '
As the hotel owner said the last sentence, the sound of terrified screams crawled through the walls. Despite knowing where the basilisk was, or that she was a friend of Luz's, I still got a chill up my spine. Just the thought of a killer magic-sucking creature stalking around at the same time as the killer nearly made my heart stop.
"Don't worry. We found them" Luz responded after rushing to the phone. "The human's actually my mom, and the basilisk is pretty chill".
"You're joking!" a student shouted over the phone. "Don't you know how dangerous those things are?".
My gaze moved towards Vee. She had her head and ears slightly down, light blue eyes shining in unwarranted shame. The sight of her brought back some horrid memories. Every time she was near me, memories of having the literal life sucked out of me, being too weak to cry for help yet awake enough to know that I was dying became fresh all over again. But even I felt bad for the poor thing, because, unlike the basilisk that attacked me, it seemed she hated the idea of hurting anyone.
"I do. I fought one a couple months ago" the human huffed. "Vee is totally different, though. She doesn't want to hurt anyone".
"And your mother?". Luz looked over at her mother for a second, then turned back towards the phone.
"Oh, she totally wants to murder you. She's not a huge fan of child murderers".
"I'm sure she'd feel better if I explained. May I speak to her?". The killer's question made Luz let out a nervous laugh. This guy may have been trying to kill her, but her mom's anger was something she wouldn't wish on anyone.
Before Luz could answer, her mother marched up to the phone. She looked ready to burst, the children around her being the only thing keeping her from cursing the older witch out.
"Hello, ma'am".
"You son of a bitch!". Ok apparently the kids in the room did not stop her from swearing. At least she was using human swears, though, to be completely honest we swore ten times more than she probably did.
"How dare you hurt these children! Do you have no soul?!".
"Ma'am please. I know this might be a bit… unconventional to a human like you, but please let me explain.
You see, I've been acquiring these witches' souls so–".
"No! You can stop right there! These children's lives have practically just begun, and you're stripping them away!".
"If you'd let me speak!" the killer spat. "These children all have a wonderful opportunity to portray one of the most fascinating creatures of both realms. Their deaths are unfortunate, but in return I will give them new bodies, a place to live rent free, three free meals a day, and plenty of love and care. It truly is for the best".
Luz had a fire within her. Whenever someone would wrong one of her loved ones, she would go from a lovable dork to the feistiest being the Isles has ever seen. And, just like her daughter, Camila had a fire within too.
After witnessing her fury earlier that day, not even the Titan could help the killer now.
"¡Dios te maldiga al séptimo anillo del infierno, patética pila de mierda de caballo! ¡Un horrible puto hombre como tú debería ser encerrado en una celda estrecha de mierda y dejado para ser destrozado por ratas rabiosas! (I'm not translating that)".
"Please, Ma'am, slow down. I don't know what any of that means" the killer whined.
"Then let me tell you something you will understand! If you have any sliver of a soul left, then you will come out from wherever the hell you are hiding and let these poor children go!". The human's voice sounded as strong as an army. Her roar could make any witch tremble. Yet the hotel owner suddenly grew a furiosity of his own.
"I will not be letting any of these kids go! This is in their best interest, and I am now the owner of all their souls!".
"If I may interject" Luz squeaked, causing her mother to scowl warningly at her. The younger human was able to push past her terror and continue. "Can I just ask how exactly you were able to bring mom here. Because, if you have a portal, I would love to see it".
"A portal?". The killer's voice was a lot softer when addressing Luz. It was… really unnerving. "You weren't summoned here?".
"No. I walked through a door. Are you saying you don't need a portal to travel between realms?!".
The last couple of months popped back into my mind. As soon as she had her hands on Philip's journal, she had been working nonstop to recreate the portal door Eda used to have. It took nearly a month just to decipher the entire journal let alone piece all the info together. Then, when Luz had finally written her plans to rebuild the portal door, she ended up running low on one of the most important ingredients, titan's blood.
The only place anyone knew there was titan's blood had, apparently, dried up years ago. The only source of it left was the key to the original portal and that… broke. Hearing that someone else may have found another way to travel between realms was relieving, but, at the same time, it made me feel ashamed of myself.
I had studied Phillip's diary just as closely as Luz did. I should have noticed that there were probably multiple alternatives to the portal door.
"Fascinating. No, I do not have a portal. Everything I've gathered from the human realm was summoned with a rather simple spell. That includes your mother, the basilisk, and even this entire building".
"A "simple spell"?! You mean this entire time; I could've gotten back home without a portal?!". Luz sounded devastated. I didn't know if she was more upset about the hours and hours of work being a waste or the fact that she could've made it back home to her mother before summer camp ended, whatever that was.
"Back? I'm sorry Miss Luz but I'm afraid the spell is one way. Besides, it included a very rare additional ingredient, one that I just used the last of". The killer actually sounded pained, like revealing the news to the hopeful younger human broke his heart.
"Titan's blood" my girlfriend sighed. "Of course,".
"Is there a reason you want to go home so bad? From what I've seen and heard, you seem very happy here on the isles".
"I am," Luz answered quickly. "Actually, the only reason I wanted to go home was to see my mom".
That news washed all of Mrs. Camila's anger away. Her eyes went wide as they pleaded out to her child for an explanation. At first, Luz didn't notice her dismay, but then her mother took a small step forward.
"Mija? You–".
"Ok. Does the entire hotel need to hear this?". Honestly, I was quite surprised Boscha hadn't started bitching earlier.
Right as Boscha said hotel, Emira's attention snapped to the present. She was surprisingly able to yell loud enough for the phone to pick her up. Granted she was laying right next to it.
"You own this hotel?".
The awful sound of my sister's voice left everyone speechless for a moment. It was nearly unrecognizable, sounding more like an abomination golem than it did any witch's. Hell, I had been sitting next to her for almost a half an hour by then, and I still wasn't used to it.
"Are you alright?" the killer asked after a disturbed moment of hesitance.
"You're so screwed, man" Emira laughed as if the killer had said yes. "Mom's gonna get your ass".
"What? Who is this?".
Before my sister could answer, I jumped in. I didn't want her to say anything she would regret later, and I wasn't quite sure she could remember her name at that moment.
"Hi, um. This is Amity speaking and that witch you just heard was my sister, Emira. She is currently… unwell".
"No shit" Boscha muttered, still on the phone for some strange reason.
"Boscha, who the hell said you had to be a part of this conversation" I huffed back.
"Well, I am because–".
"Anyways. Emira was injured by one of your gargoyles. Our mom is certainly not gonna be happy about that".
"I was speaking–"
"Injured? What happened?".
"Not you too, you bas–".
"From what my brother, Edric, says, they were approaching the building when your two gargoyles jumped them. Edric seems relatively fine, but Emira's head was severely injured. She is currently cognitively impaired".
"I am so so sorry" the hotel owner sputtered quickly. "I will talk to those certain employees, and I will inform your mother of her daughter's condition. I'm sure she and I can discuss an appropriate way of compensating her".
"Discuss?" Emira hollered. "She's gonna dump you in the boiling sea".
Her laugh disturbed the killer even more. Implications of murder aside, she sounded like a mouse being torn apart by a cat.
"Like I said, I will contact her. And I will have someone prepare a few rooms for our new guests. If you have any more concerns, the phones are always available. Goodbye for now".
The phone clicked as the killer, Boscha, and Luz all hung up. The latter turned to her mother. Her eyes sparkled as tears began to form in them.
"Mami, I am so sorry" she squeaked.
From behind her, I grabbed Luz's shoulder and pulled her close to me. My girlfriend slowly sat on the side of the bed, careful not to disturb Emira. Said witch paid no mind at all. In fact, she released her hold on me slightly, so I could comfort her.
"We're stuck here, aren't we?" Vee asked, a sob hanging in her throat.
Mrs. Noceda couldn't speak. Every time she tried; all she could do was stammer. She raised her arm out from her side to attempt to keep herself from falling to her knees. Her world was spinning faster than she could handle.
Vee grabbed her adopted mother's other hand. She was badly shaking.
"Mrs. Noceda?" Willow called. She rose from her spot on the bed and led the stunned human to the edge of it. "We are going to do everything we can to help you, whether that be working on a new portal or just making your stay here as pleasant as we can".
"Willow's right. You have friends here" Gus added.
He had to build up a lot of courage first, but the witchling put a hand on the side of Vee's shoulder. The basilisk returned his gesture with a hug, a hug I was sure would be in my friend's nightmares for the next couple of weeks.
"Thank you, Willow, Gus" Mrs. Camila finally sighed. She looked twenty years older, the lines on her face making her look like she was melting. "I… I…".
The older human slid her palm up her forehead and back into her hair. As she did so, she began to significantly slouch. After a very long moment of silence, Mrs. Camila slightly turned towards Willow and asked, "Would you like to finish your story? I'd understand if you didn't".
…
Once Willow had finished explaining what happened, Luz began to talk about what happened upstairs. Apparently, they had found a lot of things before they had run into Camila, Vee, Edric, and Emira. All of it originated from the human realm, probably summoned by the killer's "simple spell".
Just hearing the three Noceda's talk about their heartfelt reunion brought a tear to my eye. It was awfully bittersweet. Luz got to see her mother again but that was a painful reminder of the two human's last encounter, of a promise Luz was pushed into making.
I was so relieved Gus was with her. If she had to face her mother alone… I can only imagine how crushing that would've been for Luz. And, from the sounds of it, he had really helped the two humans and the basilisk when their talk went sour.
Speaking of Gus, he was acting very strange. He kept looking aimlessly around the room. Whenever his gaze was on me, he would grow even more anxious and quickly look over at Edric. My brother kept his eye on the witchling, giving him a saddened, yet encouraging smile.
My worry pushed me out of Emira's embrace (finally) and to my feet. It wasn't the first time Gus had gotten extremely nervous around me during our stay. The last time it happened, Gus ended up making Luz, Willow, and I promise to care about our wellbeing more. I don't know where that came from, but it looked like it was bothering him again.
"Gus? Can you and I talk outside?". With the look he gave me in response, you'd think I had challenged Gus to a deathmatch.
The witch looked over at Edric again, silently asking the Blight what to do. My older sibling simply shrugged, though he looked confident.
"Sure, Amity".
"Gus" I started after closing the door behind me. "Ever since last night, you've kept… looking at me funny. Is something wrong? I mean, other than someone trying to kill us".
My younger friend just stared at me in fear. He looked ready to faint. I waited for a minute, to give him time to answer, before I let out a sigh and put my hand on Gus's shoulder.
"If I did something wrong, Gus, I want to know".
"No, Amity. You didn't do anything. It's actually something I did. I…said some… really bad things". Gus couldn't look me in the eyes. He kept absentmindedly rubbing his arm in attempts to calm himself.
"About me?".
"Edric said I'm just really scared, and I am, but I still should've never said something like that".
Ah. So that's why Gus kept looking at Edric. Why he'd confide in him, I didn't know, but I just hoped to the Titan that dipshit didn't tell Gus anything stupid.
"Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to, but it might put your mind at ease" I asked softly. When Gus didn't respond, I kept going. "I won't be angry. I've said a lot of bad things too".
"We were attacked by a dust bunny" he began after thinking about it for another moment. "It's a creature that can pull thoughts out of the darkest part of your mind and recreate them with the dust around you".
"Didn't one attack a bunch of people up north?".
"Yeah. That was a dust bunny, too. This one went after Vee first, but Luz was able to help her fight back. Then it turned its attention to me.
It trapped me in some sort of weird mirage. I was back at school, standing in the middle of the hallway. And… Boscha and the others were there too.
Boscha told me that I wanted you dead, and, when I denied it, she brought up that one prophecy".
"Which one? The one about Willow?". Gus could only respond with a nod.
"What did Boscha tell you?" I continued, growing more anxious about what Gus was about to tell me every second.
"She said that Willow would choose to let me die instead of you or Luz. And then I started ranting about how I thought I was just Willow's replacement for you, and, well, that led to me saying that…". He took a moment to brace himself for my reaction. "I said you deserved to die instead".
I tried to keep a sympathetic look on my face, but I just couldn't. My frown was so strong my lip started quivering. I squeezed my golden eyes closed for a moment as I tried to keep my dismay from snowballing.
It's just…I…titandammit, that really sucked to hear. I knew Gus cared about me; he wouldn't be beating himself up so hard if he didn't. But it just hurt to hear him say it, and my thoughts on what he said hurt me even more.
"That's… fair" I finally murmured.
"What? No! Amity, I don't want you to die!".
"I know. And I don't want to die either but if Willow's forced to choose to say goodbye to someone, it sure as hell shouldn't be you". Despite how painful it was to say, I didn't falter.
"I know you've done some shitty things in the past, but you don't deserve to die! You matter just as much as I do, remember?!".
Gus was frantic, yet I still couldn't help but smile. As much as I hated people fussing over me, his insistence of me knowing I was valuable was super sweet.
Compared to a month ago, I definitely felt better about myself. I knew I was important. My friends and family wouldn't let me forget that. Yet, saying that I wasn't the one Willow should choose was practically me saying that I mattered more than Luz or Gus. And no one could persuade me that that was true.
"Willow can't afford to lose you, Gus. You mean a lot more to her than you think. But me? We all already know she'll be just fine without me".
"Amity, you don't deserve to die over me. It was just something I said because I was jealous. You're a great friend to Willow!".
It was like the younger witch was begging me to be angry at him. It would be a lot less disturbing than the reaction he was actually getting. From the way it was sounding, I had already accepted my demise.
I hadn't, of course. The idea that Willow valued Gus and Luz over me made my heart feel like it was being crumpled into a little ball. And I was scared, sweet titan, how could I not be. I had said it a million times over the past couple of days, and I'd keep saying it until I was no longer in danger. I did not want to die.
But I had to face the facts. A majority of Willows problems were caused by me and fixed by Gus and Luz. It would be stupid for the witchling to trade either's life for mine.
"Try not to worry that much about it, Gus" I sighed in an attempt to change topics. "It's like my mom always says. You don't know exactly what a premonition means until it happens".
The weird look Gus gave me when I mentioned my mother made me snicker. It was probably not the best idea to mention her while I was trying to comfort someone.
"I know. I know. My mom's not the most pleasant witch. But she is a good oracle. Now, let's go back into the room. I'm sure everyone's worried".
Gus nodded, though I could tell he wasn't happy with how the conversation went. When we first re-entered the room, I got an anxiously stern glare from Edric. I leered back at him. What did he think happened out there? Did he really think I chewed my friend out for something he was apologizing for?
I sat back in my spot between my girlfriend and my sister. I regretted that in seconds, since my sister instantly scooped me back into her arms and began to pet me like I was a cat again. I grred in frustration quietly while Luz began to giggle.
"We were very lucky that Edric came to help. You should be very proud of yourself, joven" Mrs. Camila suddenly praised.
What? What the hell had they been talking about while Gus and I were gone? Camila heard my silent questions loud and clear.
"We were being attacked by a demon when he found us. He was able to drive it away by climbing onto his back. I could only imagine what would've happened if he hadn't shown up".
"Oh" I teased. "How out of character".
"Quiet, Mittens. This is the first time he's been praised in a while. Let him enjoy this" Emira sniped.
"Thank you, Em… Wait, what do you mean by in a while".
"After that, we picked up Emira and we headed back downstairs" Luz finished. She then looked over at me. "What were you up to this morning?".
I was up to something? The reason I didn't go with Luz and Gus, or Willow, was I needed to rest or, you know, do nothing.
"I slept in a bit, then went door to door to tell everyone what was going on. Then I waited outside in the hallway just in case anyone had any questions".
"Is that when Razor started to yell at you?" Edric questioned.
"I wouldn't say he was yelling at me" I scoffed. "I'd say he was throwing a fit".
A knock on the door made our conversation come to a halt. Camila moved to answer it, but a voice made her pause.
"Willow! Grab Blight, the human, and Gus and meet us in room 118 in five minutes! We're going to start handing out weapons". The sound of Boscha's voice irritated me more than it probably should have.
"We've got multiple humans and Blights now!" Gus shouted.
"You know who I mean! But bring them too I guess!".
Everyone, aside from Edric and Emira, rose to their feet. Willow hissed a little as she jumped off of the bed. I'm sure her wounds felt better after being cleaned, but they were definitely going to be sore for a while.
"Are you going to stay here with Emira?" she rasped at Edric. My brother gazed at the sickly witch for a moment, waiting for her to object.
"Yep" he said once Emira didn't respond.
"I'll stay too," Vee added. "Just in case he needs any help".
Camila looked at her adopted daughter unsurely, but she didn't argue. I held the door open for Luz and Gus, who were helping keep Willow steady. I then let out a deep breath, shoved down all of the stress from the last half hour, and walked out the door myself.