"Is that the plan then? Just barge in and demand food?".
I grabbed my girlfriend's hand and rubbed the back of it with my thumb. Amity had always had a very thin patience with Boscha, but, ever since the savagescent incident, she could barely stand to be in the room with the triclops. She may not have remembered what happened, but she apparently remembered how angry she got.
"Only some of us," Boscha scoffed in response. "The rest of us will be spread out in the dining area. If we meet any trouble with the cooking staff, we'll drive them out of the kitchen and into our trap".
"But what if they're armed with potions?" Amity went on. "We'd be sending a group of us in just to be attacked".
"What if we could lure them out?" a weakened voice asked from the bed across from Amity and I. Everyone's attention fell on Willow. She slowly sat up from the pillows she was resting on, letting out a pained grunt as she did so. "We send someone in and they try to trick whoever's in the kitchen into evacuating it".
"Leave that to me" I chuckled devilishly as I rubbed my palms together.
I had already thought of a bunch of ideas. There was always the classic "screaming fire in a crowded building", but that seemed a bit too simple. I was more thinking of something like saying I saw a giant diseased rat crawl into the kitchen. Maybe I could make them think it bit off one of my fingers.
"Absolutely not!". Right. I'd forgotten my mom wasn't used to me running into danger just yet.
"It's okay, mami. I've done stuff like this lots of times" I reassured, prompting almost everyone in the room to nod and murmur in agreement.
"And how many times has it nearly killed you, mija?".
I slightly sunk in on myself. Amity had told me she and Edric had caught my mother up on some of my… escapades. And it was true, most of them got pretty dangerous. But I lived, didn't I?
"I know I've been in my fair share of sticky situations, but I've always found a way out of them".
"Not always," Amity said while she held my hand tighter.
Looking into her golden eyes was painful. She looked like a sad puppy who'd just gotten yelled at for eating a shoe.
"Amity–".
"Not more than a month ago my mom tricked you into nearly being beaten to death in front of all of her investors. You are a lot stronger and smarter than a lot of witches will ever give you credit for, but titandammit Luz, if I hadn't stepped in, that abomi-ton would've killed you".
"That actually happened?!" my mother cried, earning an angry snarl from Emira. "I thought you were exaggerating" she continued in a quieter voice.
"Nope," Edric answered, popping the p. "That happened. Em and I saw it all".
"And you did nothing to help?". There was a hint of hurt in my mom's voice.
"What were we supposed to do? Mom thinks we're just a couple of jokes, two stupid kids who don't know any better. I don't think anything would've made her listen to us".
There was outrage brewing in my mom's eyes. She gritted her teeth together and, though her human teeth were nowhere near as sharp as a witch's, her sneer was just as scary.
"Had I known that that wench tried to kill my child when she came in here, I would've…". She couldn't finish that sentence. If she had she would've said something children weren't supposed to hear. "Threatening children's futures is bad enough but trying to kill one?".
"Point is," Amity jumped in before my mother could rant anymore. "Luz? I don't doubt that you could lure anyone in the kitchen out of it. But you've got to remember how strong the potions the killer has are and that your body is more fragile than a witch's. Let one of us handle things for once, okay?".
"Okay" I murmured, dispirited.
I couldn't say no. Amity was just so worried, and she had a reason to be. Considering that just being inside the hotel was dangerous, one rash decision could cause a whole lot of damage, and every decision I made was rash.
"She wasn't who I had in mind," Willow added. "Edric?".
Said witch's ears pricked. He looked over at Willow, but then his golden gaze shifted over to Emira as he grew more nervous. She was now partially in his arms, the injured twin giving coddling her younger sister a break. She looked comfortable, though I doubted she knew her brother was there half the time.
"You know I would, if I could, but I've got to stay here and watch Emira" Edric sighed.
"Oh no you're not" Boscha spat. "You're one of the only witches who isn't injured and starving".
"But I'm also one of the only witches she completely recognizes".
"We could get some of the healing trackers to watch her," Bo suggested. Kat, who was sitting on the floor next to her, nodded in agreement.
"We'll be needed for the raid, but there are plenty of other students that could".
"Emira could possibly start hallucinating. If that happens, she could hurt herself or someone else" mom warned. "I'll stay with her".
"You're also not injured or starving. And, from what Gus says, you're quite tough for a human".
"I didn't say it like that" Gus chuckled nervously. His ears pointed downwards while he grimaced sheepishly.
"Besides, according to the human, you can go weeks without food. You can be useful and you're not another mouth to feed".
"I don't know what Luz has told you, but that's not entirely true" my mother sighed while shooting a tired glance at me. "Technically a human can go a few months without food if they drink enough water and they were originally healthy. But a human will start to get sick in less than a day if they stop eating".
"But not that sick!" I cried. "You should've seen Amity last night, Mami. She looked like she'd been… well, poisoned!".
"Is it true your bodies can fully heal on an empty stomach?" Bo asked.
"It depends on how severe the injury is and how long it'll take to heal. Our bodies need energy to function, but our bodies can get that energy by breaking down fats stored inside of them. So as long as our bodies have energy, our wounds will heal on their own…theoretically. That's disregarding the chance of infections, the wound not closing, or many other things.
Our bodies go through multiple changes in our metabolic process when we are starving, and those changes can take their toll on someone. Among many other things, it can cause poorer cognitive function, heavy fatigue, and a drop in blood pressure which can cause a bunch of problems in itself".
"So, in other words, humans need to eat too," Boscha sighed in frustration. "That doesn't matter. You're still somewhat useful".
"What if I stayed with Emira?" Vee suggested. "Willow can stay here too. I can tend to both of them, and, if things get really bad, she can help me calm Emira down".
"But you're useful too!" Boscha growled. "You can literally eat any attack they throw at us".
"If it's smaller. I won't be able to eat an attack bigger than my own belly" the basilisk argued. "And I can't eat too many attacks either. I would just throw them back up".
"That's why she should stay with the injured," Edric pressed. "If any smaller attack sneaks past all of us, she can eat it".
"Is that what we're doing then? Can we get going now?" Boscha snipped impatiently.
When no one objected, we all headed to our feet. Edric's movement alerted Emira. She stared confusedly at her brother, her mouth gaping open in slight surprise.
"Where are you going?".
"It's okay, Em. We're all heading to the kitchen to get lunch". Well, that wasn't completely a lie. "I'll bring you back something, alright?".
I don't think I'd ever heard Edric sound so sweet. He'd always been a patient guy but, while speaking to his injured sister, he sounded like a literal angel.
Emira sloppily rolled her eyes. It looked like she had a hard time moving them.
"It's about time. I'm starving" she huffed. Her annoyed look then softened into a pleading one. "Make sure Mittens gets some food too. She'd just been poisoned with… oh it's that cat thing. Made her tear off your toe last time".
Last time? There was a last time?! I had to stop myself from shouting, for poor Emira's sake. You're telling me that Amity had been poisoned with that particular super rare and dangerous potion more than once?!
Amity knew exactly what I was thinking. She placed her hand on my arm as she tried to tell me that it was alright. It was not alright, and we were so gonna have a talk about it later on, but I let it go for the time being. We had more pressing matters to focus on.
"Don't worry about a thing. We'll all make sure Amity gets something to eat. Are you alright staying with Vee for a little bit?".
"Which ones Vee, again?".
"I am," Vee announced. Her tail flicked nervously while her tufted ears pressed against her head.
"Are you a basilisk?".
That made Vee's blue eyes go wide in fear. She abandoned her straighter posture in order to make herself look smaller.
"I am. But I won't hurt you, I promise".
"Didn't think you would. You seem cool" Emira shrugged. "You know I saw someone that looked just like you earlier talking to… Amity's girlfriend".
As the sickly Blight told Vee and Willow about her interesting morning, everyone else shuffled outside of the room. The hallway was filled with students. Just as we had done, each room had decided who was healthy enough to fight and who would stay behind with the injured. Every student was armed with something. Some had the weapons from the basement while a few others had made make-shift weapons from what they found in their rooms.
"Students of Hexide!" Gus roared. The small chattering filling the corridor came to a halt and everyone's attention went to the younger witch. "We have a plan!".
"Finally," Boscha snapped quietly, earning a whispered "shut up" from Amity.
"We can't fight whoever's in the kitchen in the kitchen. That's why we'll be sending Edric in to lure them out into the lobby".
The chattering started up again while some shouted out complaints. Though they were clashing together, hateful words were thrown towards Gus. He wasn't the only one who decided on Edric's involvement, but he was the one being blamed for it.
Meanwhile, Amity was clenching the side of her torn black dress. I recognized the feral look in her eye. The witch had amazing control, being able to decide when she wanted to show her anger and how much of it she showed. But there were times when that anger would come out on its own, when her apathy would break.
Who could blame her? She was hurt, tired, hungry, scared, and she knew that Gus was too. Almost everyone in the hallway was.
"Do any of you think you'd do a better job? Anyone? Go on. Just raise your hand and we'll send you in instead". When no one responded immediately, Amity continued with a much more reserved tone in her voice. "When it comes to tricking people, Edric knows what he's doing. And, with how much that dope visits the healing coven, I believe he could survive anything. He's got this".
I didn't expect that. What I expected was for her to start shouting about how you shouldn't shoot the messenger. But instead, she defended her brother! With all the insults she'd been dishing out, it seemed like she was physically unable to complement either of her siblings.
If you would've told me the morning after the wailing star happened that Amity and the twins would be getting along this well…well I'd probably believe you, but I'd also bug you into telling me how it happened in excruciating detail.
"The rest of us will be waiting in the lobby in groups," Gus continued. "Luz, Boscha, Amity, Cat, Bo, Mrs. Noceda, and I are group one. We'll be waiting to attack in the dining area. Group two will be near the check in desk, and group three will be near the front doors. If the killer is among the witches in the kitchen, we're not gonna give him a chance to escape through the barrier".
Boscha stepped forwards and began to assign the other two groups, while the rest of group one headed to the lobby. The rest of the students partaking in the attack took no time at all to get to their positions. Once Boscha was back with her group, she signaled all of us to be quiet.
Edric looked back at us; his golden eyes dulled by his unsurity. Amity's much more lively golden eyes met his. It only took one encouraging nod from his younger sister for the witch to throw his nerves to the side and march proudly into the kitchen.
And then, he walked back out mere seconds later.
"No one's in there".
"What?! What do you mean "no one's in there"?" Boscha gnarled.
"No being of witch, demon, or human descent are currently occupying this certain area" Edric re-explained, mockingly over enunciating his words.
"Move over, dipshit". The triclops pushed Edric to the side as she barged through the kitchen door. A few moments passed, then the door slowly opened and Boscha stuck her head out of it.
"There's no one in there". With an annoyed flick of her ear, Boscha recomposed herself and opened the door all the way. "Well don't just stand there. Start grabbing food".
I excitedly shoved past Boscha and ran straight to the fridge. Somehow, my stomach knew I was close to a lot of food. It begged for me to grab the first thing I saw and tear into it like a wrapped Christmas present.
"Quiet" I shushed at it. "The witches need to eat first, then we can have our share".
I eagerly opened the fridge and grabbed the first thing I saw. My sense of touch recognized what I had a hold of before my eyes did. It was something furry, surprisingly warm for something that was in a fridge. And I could feel it sort of move like it was… breathing! It was breathing!
I instantly recoiled, yanking my hand away as fast as humanly possible. As I did my eyes scanned the entire fridge. There were a bunch of creatures with coarse oily brown fur and eye-lidless eyes spread out along their backs. They apparently couldn't see out of them, since the only one that noticed me standing there was the one I had touched.
It lifted its head up, revealing its round ears and long muzzle. A mouse? No, it seemed bigger than that, more like a rat. Definitely a rat.
But it wasn't a regular rat. It seemed different from all the rats Eda and Hooty would eat. This one looked crazed. Its coat was ragged and patchy, their whiskers jolted up and down randomly, and the pupils in the eyes on their back were unnaturally wide and foggy as if the beast was trance.
It stared blankly at me for a moment, before it flashed its yellow buck teeth in a snarl.
My frightened yelp soon turned into a full scream of pain, as the rat leapt at my face and clung to my eyebrow with its teeth. Without thinking, I yanked it off of me and threw it on the ground. I stared down at the vicious rodent noticing that he was chewing on a chunk of my skin. It's then that I start to feel my blood trickling down my face.
"Luz!" Amity hollered in alarm.
She rushed up to me and stabbed the end of her scythe into the vicious animal's head, crushing it. The last thing the varmint did was let out a high pitched squee that alerted the rest of his friends. They began to stir and shuffle around causing the fridge to shake.
"Run!" I howled to the rest of the people in the room. "Get out now!".
I turned my back to the fridge to flee right when the rats began pouring out of it. They all clung to my back, their weight threatening to topple me over. I was completely stunned by the pain and shock. All I could do was squirm in attempts to shake them off.
I felt a larger hand grab my wrist and yank me towards the door. Once we were back out in the dining area, they knocked the rats off my back before being attacked by more. My vision came back to me, revealing a horrifying sight.
Rats were clawing their way up to my mother's face. She vigorously slammed the large wrench she was armed with at them over and over, flinching in pain every time she accidentally hit herself.
The rest of Hexide were doing the same. Some students were slamming their weapons on the ground trying to kill the rats before they climbed on to them, others were using the stuff around them like the chairs surrounding us. A lot of my peers were stomping their feet too as they tried to crush the rats weaving around their feet.
My weapon was probably the smallest one Willow brought up from the basement, a rusty but trusty screwdriver, and all of the chairs were taken by the time I realized what was going on. While the screwdriver came in handy when prying rats off of my chest and arms, it wasn't going to help me with all the rats tearing into my legs. All I could really do was jump around like a wild stallion and hope that I could buck the rodents off of me.
Howls and shouts bounced off of the walls of the lobby. I'm not quite sure how I was able to single them out from the thousands of other cries for help, but, on the left of me Gus screamed as he was knocked to the ground. One of the rats ended up climbing one of the dozen tables around him and jumping onto his face. The bloodthirsty creature dug its teeth into his eye causing my friend to thrash his head.
At the same time, Edric was begging for help on the right. He stumbled forwards as more and more rats clung to his calves. The fact that he was able to not only stand but also kinda sort of walk was miraculous.
I was left stunned once again. I didn't know which direction to go! Both were in terrible danger and needed help, but I was only one person!
Luckily, Gus's prayers were answered. A black and lavender blur raced towards him and, with a powerful swing, knocked a majority of the rats off of the badly injured witchling. She took another swipe and threw a couple more rats into the air like they were hockey pucks. In the meanwhile, Gus staggered to his knees.
"Amity?" he whimpered. "Is that you?".
Gus sounded rather sad, guilty even. I guess that was understandable. The very same witch he said deserved to die earlier that morning was helping him.
I didn't know how Gus could even think something like that. I know she'd done bad things and I know that Gus was really scared and angry at that moment, but to want somebody dead? She almost got me gutted and I didn't want her to die.
"It's me," Amity replied as she hoisted Gus to his feet. "Let's get you somewhere safe".
"What about you? Are you hurt?".
My girlfriend slammed her scythe to the floor, popping the eye on one of the rat's backs, then flung a huge group of them into the air. One of them flew towards her, but, before it could latch onto her shoulder, she caught it, slammed it to the ground, and shoved her weapon into it.
"I'm doing just fine" the witch finally panted as she drug Gus away.
Knowing that Gus was with Amity, I leapt towards Edric. I jabbed the end of my screwdriver into the largest rat on his leg. He released his hold to let out a cry in pain. The other rodents let go too, so they could snap their jaws at me instead.
One by one, I knocked each rat off of both of the witch's legs, until he was completely pest free. I turned to Edric to ask how he was doing but he spoke, or rather shrieked, first.
"Emira! We've got to get to Emira, now!".
The frantic twin pointed towards the entrance to the hallway. A stray pack of rats were all scurrying to the left side, the same side Emira, Willow, and Vee were in.
Edric clung onto my arm as we both rushed down the corridor. We weren't going as fast as we both wanted to, but I wasn't about to leave the injured witch to be torn apart.
Just as I reached for the door, a loud squeal shrilled on the other side of it. I kicked the door open, as I silently hoped that what I'd find behind it wouldn't be too bad. My brown eyes went wide, and Edric eyes did too.
In the corner of the room, under the writing desk, Vee was huddling in fear. She was violently shaking while her eyes were so wide they could've rolled out of her head at any second. The mortified basilisk was both in the terrifying present and deep in her past. With how scared she got when the both of us ran into a group of rats in Gravesfield, I could only imagine how scary the whole situation was for her.
Willow was sitting beside Vee. She was trying to comfort her the best she could, but ultimately failing. The plant witch knew more than a thing or two about keeping calm; the fact that her mighty power was connected to her emotion meant she had to. But Vee's trauma was above Willow's level of expertise.
And in the middle of the room stood Emira. She was slightly hunched over, while her feet were spread out more than usual. By the way she teetered, you could tell she was having trouble with her balance.
In one hand was a rat with a huge bloody hole on his back, and in the other she had a reddish white looking sphere… an eye! She had an eye in her hand!
As if it were a juicy strawberry, the lopsided witch popped the eye into her mouth and began to chew. I turned my head, trying my hardest not to vomit. Did Emira really just tear the eye out of a rat and eat it?
The poor creature in her other hand let out another pitiful screech. All the rest of the rats began to cower, staying in a lowered crouch just in case they needed to leap away. Their eyes wouldn't leave their comrade or the dangerous predator that had them in her grasp.
Once Emira swallowed her mouthful, she bit into the rat's spine, severing it with her sharp fangs. Her victim let out one more cry in pain that drove all the other rodents in the room away, before it slumped over lifelessly.
After munching on the rat for a moment, the emerald haired witchling spotted her twin. She tried to step towards him, but she stumbled a bit, so she just went with shouting across the room instead.
"Hey, Edric" she greeted through her mouthful. "I found some food. Want some?".
"Er, yeah" her brother answered as he limped forward. I helped him to the bed, my mouth left gapping in shock. I turned to Willow completely dumbfounded.
"Witches can eat rodents?! That's not just an Eda thing?".
"Of course we can. You know, Amity and I used to catch mice in the field in front of the manor and eat them. When her mom found out, she went ballistic, and we just laughed".
As Willow was telling her story, I began to think up a plan. There were too many rats who moved way too fast for us to have a chance at driving them away, but what if we got them all to freeze like Emira did, then we killed some of them and all the injured witches could eat them.
"Emira!" I shouted. "You're a genius!". Said witch let out an angry shush before she noticed who was speaking.
"Hey… human?". It seemed she was still having trouble remembering my name. "Where's Amity?".
"Out in the lobby. Don't worry. I'll go get her" I responded while racing across the room and digging through the bed stand.
Yes! Inside were the bundle of road flares Gus and I had found on the third floor! I knew they would come in handy!
It took me a second to figure out how to light the thing, but I soon pulled the top off and scraped the stone at the bottom of it against the lighting strip. Then I did it again, and again, and dammit! Why wasn't it lighting?
Willow slowly walked over to me and gestured for me to hand her the flare. It didn't even take her two seconds to light the first one. Even when she was weak and injured, Willow was still as strong as ox.
I carried the five lit flares, two in one hand and three in the other, into the lobby and shoved one into my mom's hands. She stared at it in confusion, but then she noticed the rats clinging on to her froze at the sight of the red light.
She grabbed the flare and began to swing it around in the air. All the while, I ran to Amity and Gus. The younger witch was leaning against my girlfriend, his good eye struggling to stay open.
"Take this and wave it in the air!" I commanded as I handed her a flare.
I didn't wait for her to respond. I ran over to Boscha, Bo, and Cat and handed them the other three flares. They had already noticed my mother and Amity, so they instantly knew what to do.
All around the lobby, the rats stopped there scurrying to turn and hiss at the dancing red lights in the air. The flames of the flares hissed back as they crackled. Now was our chance.
"Kill as many rats as you can!" I thundered. "You can eat them!".
My peers needed a moment to comprehend what was happening, but, after a moment, they all sprang into action. Instead of the cries in pain from dying witches and demons, squeaks filled the air. The rats were running around scampering across the floor once more, but this time they were scrambling to find anywhere they could hide.
Finally, the last rat squeezed itself into a small hole in the wall. My gaze traveled around the lobby while my excitement faded into devastation. Most of my peers were struggling to stand, too tired to pick up their meals and start eating. Feeling relatively okay, I began to pick the dead rats off of the floor.
"Here" I said as I walked up to the closest witch to me. "This'll give you some strength".
The student hesitated, internally debating whether or not he had enough energy, but he soon grabbed the rat and began to hungrily munch on it.
I then headed over to a group of witches on the floor. Razor was lying down while two of his friends hovered over him. The hog demon was covered in scarlet marks and all his limbs were slack.
"Is he awake?" I asked nervously.
"No," one of the witches answered. "He's gone, Luz".
I took a second look at Razor, shock running through my veins. His chest was still instead of rising and falling and his eyes were… I grimaced while a lump of grief sat on my heart. Tears stung my eyes as they began to form.
"I'm sorry" I choked.
I left the two witches to their mourning. They needed to eat but I doubted they could stomach any food right then.
As I looked around for more students, I started to find more and more of them were lying on the ground. I didn't want to, but I assumed that they were all casualties.
Over near the entrance of the kitchen, I saw Amity and Gus staggering towards my mother. Both the human and the witchling's flares were still lit, though the flames had weakened.
"Mrs. Camila" Amity called panic lacing her tired voice. "Gus is badly injured and needs attention".
Gus stumbled into the adult human's arms. She handed my girlfriend her flare and directed her towards the pool. Amity said something to Gus, but it was too soft for me to hear. She then ran to Boscha and the others and the four of them headed towards the clear pool room doors.
I watched my mother practically carry the young witch away. I badly wanted to follow the both of them, yet I went back to picking up rats and handing them to the injured Hexside kids.
I was able to get a majority of the rats off the floor before Boscha approached me. The usually pink triclops was a sickly gray, and her exposed arms and her face were covered in scratches.
"The rest of us can handle handing out the rats. You go in the kitchen, grab all of the non-refridgable foods, and bring them to your room. We'll start eating that tomorrow".
Without saying a word, I rushed through the kitchen door. There wasn't a lot left in there, the killer having probably moved all the fresh stuff out when he placed the rats in the fridge. I mostly found a lot of bread, some cans of soup, and some packages of muffins and bagels all in a crate in a pantry in the corner of the room. There were also boxes of cereal that were obviously from the demon realm but were similar to some of the cereals back home.
It only took me a half hour to move it all into my shared hotel room. I stacked it all on top of the tv stand, though I didn't do it that well. While grabbing a box of crackers for myself, the pile shook like it was in an earthquake.
"Don't eat that, Luz," Amity uttered.
She and I were alone in the room at that moment. Mom had placed Gus in the room Emira, Edric, and Willow were staying in so she could keep an eye on all four of them. Vee stayed with her to help.
"But I'm hungry, Agridulce".
"Then come have a few rats. I was able to nab a few real juicy ones".
I gave Amity an unsure glance. The idea was revolting but I'd eaten a lot of disgusting things. I was more apprehensive because the beast was uncooked. I didn't know if salmonella existed in the Demon realm, but I was positive I wouldn't be able to keep the rodent down.
"I can't eat that. Sensitive stomach, remember".
"Really?" Amity questioned as her gaze saddened. I simply nodded. "Oh. Then, yeah. You should probably have some crackers".
I thought about it for a second. My belly quietly grumbled out for food, yet my mind was stopping me from grabbing it.
"Not right now" I sighed. "I'm gonna go help treat everyone's wounds. There are only so many health track students and they're hurt too".
"What? No, Luz. You need to eat first" Amity spat in surprise.
"But–".
"No". The witchling hopped out of the messy bed and stood tall. "As your awesome girlfriend, it's my job to make sure your belly's always full. You're staying here and eating whether you like it or not".
I stared at my girlfriend in awe for a moment. This world truly didn't deserve a goddess like her, yet she was gracious enough to bless us with her presence anyway.
"Amity, that's so, so, sweet of you… but there's a lot of witches that need help".
My beloved shook her head and sighed before suggesting, "what if you treat my wounds first while you eat". When I hesitated, Amity went on. "The healing track and Camilla are taking care of all the urgent injuries. You have time".
"Okay" I agreed after more hesitation. I ran towards Willow's bag and pulled out the rest of the supplies she had. After I quickly nabbed the box of crackers, I bounced onto the bed and got straight to work. I couldn't help but smile and neither could Amity. Our eyes locked in what seemed like a magical moment.
She then gave me a joking glare and put her hands on her hips.
"You're supposed to be eating, remember?".
"I know. I know" I laughed guiltily.
Under the sharp eyes of my loving girlfriend, I opened the box. I took a cracker out of it, looked over at Amity, and took a huge bite. While chewing I went back to cleaning her wounds, enjoying the calm after the hellish storm of rats we all just faced.