Chapter 11

Witch Business: Part 2 (continued)

~ Isabella ~

The gasp that attempted to leave her lips was caught in her throat as a surge of energy hit her like a boulder, knocking her briefly off her feet and backwards right into the hard front of Kate Denali.

"Umph" Kate grunted, her arms instinctively snaked around the brunette, holding her steady. No doubt the blonde was surprised by the toned warm body currently glued to her front. "Nice form" Kate flirted with a low whistle, her thumb slowly, sensually, sliding down Isabella's arm. Isabella ignored the warmth that jolted in her stomach.

"Sorry" she muttered as she pulled her body away from the bemused vampire, feeling a bit flustered. Isabella felt the heat on her cheeks, and the traitorous blush had climbed upward and around to the tips of her ears. Great!

"Jesus Christ what the… brother , what have you done ?" Micah's low tone was that of regret and sorrow. The male witch's despair startled Isabella back to the matter at hand.

To the too quiet room.

Isabella tore her eyes from Kate's dark orbs and stared widely around the dark room, accidentally dropping her illusion on her eyes, her luminous green eyes shimmered instead as her mouth dropped open in a stunned 'o'.

"Fuck" was all she managed to whisper as she took in the utter carnage. The destruction.

Bodies lined around the dirty floor, some stacked atop one another haphazardly beneath a boarded window. Hands tied in uncomfortable positions behind their backs. Some had clearly fallen as they'd tried to run from whoever – from whatever – pursued them. Hurt them. And then, murdered them.

"Môj Bože!" [my God] Kate breathed, stepping next to Isabella. Her dark gold eyes flicking rapidly from face to face, body to body.

"There are so many" Micah pointed out disbelievingly, the warring emotions threatening to bubble over in the form of fat tears.

He was correct unfortunately, there must be twenty some bodies – likely more. Isabella's heart clenched as she caught sight of a small, limp arm poking out at an awkward angle from beneath a few larger bodies in the farthest corner. She swallowed the lump of despair in her throat and anger ignited in her green eyes.

"How could he do such a terrible thing?" Micah went on, gesturing wildly with his arms, his disbelieving eyes taking in the broken bodies, the deep cuts and scared frozen faces, staring blankly ahead at nothing.

Evidentially, no one was safe, Isabella noted. For the discarded bodies of men, women and children were scattered about the dingy space.

Isabella swallowed and moved deeper inside the large rectangular room, bending down, she tilted the head of an elderly man to the side. Checking for marks, and finding none, she tilted him in the other direction and her eyes narrowed at the symbol the size of her fist crudely carved into the side of his neck. The deep, long since sealed wound was red and raw, dry brown blood clotted against his dirty shirt collar. This man has been dead for a while. She glanced around the room and noticed the bodies in various states of decomposition, clearly Jeremy had dragged his stock out as opposed to using them up simultaneously.

She sighed sadly and focused on the man before her. Isabella's stomach plummeted as she continued to stare in despair at the angry wound. At the evidence they needed, in addition to the room of dead humans of course – this mark, this symbol . It was a symbol used only for dark magic. Sinister, unpredictable, lethal and all consuming:

Blood magic.

Isabella stiffly swallowed the whimper in her throat as she gently closed his lids, his terrified unseeing ice-grey eyes forever etched in her memory.

She closed her eyes tightly, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. She could practically taste the rotten flesh, could still feel the remnants of their fear, of their despair.

She clenched her jaw tightly, desperately reigning in her power which simmered restlessly beneath her skin. It seemed to beg for blood. To avenge these people and the others Jeremy had murdered. Used for their life force and discarded like they were irrelevant. Isabella remembered a time in her life she too was weak and brutalised for the amusement and sport of another creature far more powerful than she.

Her head hurt with the need to unleash, to bring justice to these poor people, to the families they left behind.

Blood for blood.

But this was not her way, it was not her job, she was wanted to preserve the peace between the creatures of the planet. To observe and learn, and to only ever intervene when the supernatural world was in danger of discovery or destruction. It was her promise to Orion, and to herself.

She was not the judge, jury and executioner in this story. In their stories.

She wanted to scream until her lungs were sore, until her throat was raw and bled. Instead, she breathed in and out one last time.

With gritted teeth, she opened her eyes and stood on firm legs. Orion's pride flashed through her heart and she took strength from it. From their bond.

"He's not here, his scent is weak, I think he will return though" Kate commented holding a full duffle bag, the warriors face impassive, focused.

"He does not know we have found him" Cecile offered as she bent to close another set of cold eyes. "I will do a cloaking spell on us, if you could scrub our energy?" Isabella nodded robotically and began her given task, muttering and drawing various runes with her fingertips.

A skill she'd been taught by another witch and had near perfected in her relentless training with Orion as she slumbered. It took a great concentration of power, of which Isabella had in buckets. Most witches power would be depleted using such a spell, but she was no witch. Isabella wasn't entirely certain what she was – but that wasn't the point.

"Do not touch any of the bodies" Isabella advised as her outstretched hand glowed a faint silver, "I doubt he'd notice given he'll be drunk on blood magic, but if he does, it might give our presence away. We need to preserve the element of surprise" she finished as she flicked her wrist and promptly felt a sudden surge of her power.

Bright silver light flowed beneath her skin, through her veins, her green eyes intensifying with a thin ring of silver energy. She directed the energy to the room, to the living occupants, successfully cloaking their energies – their life forces, auras, souls, whatever people preferred to refer to their unique life essence. The witches preferred the term energy , because that is what most of the planet was made from and subsequently the spells they could perform were heavily reliant on. Everything had an energy. Isabella and Orion related to this definition and so adopted it too.

Kate blew a quiet whistle as she turned her arm this way and that, silently inspecting the faint silver glow that faded slowly around the limb.

"He used a protection spell" Kate commented seemingly to herself, "on the door? When you opened it, you shot back from the magic. How did you get through it? Or was it just an alert system?" She puzzled.

"No, I think it was more of a warning to any trespassers, particularly humans. He didn't expect anyone to find his… this place" Cecile replied curtly, gesturing to the space.

"He wouldn't know the proper spells to keep me out. Nor would he have the power to do so – even with…" she eyed the bodies and swallowed "even with all their blood" Kate watched her curiously.

"Kate can you confirm, are they…" she paused, closing her eyes briefly, "are they drained?"

"Yes" she nodded solemnly, "not a drop left"

"Stars" she breathed, "it's as I thought," Isabella mumbled, "what is his goal here, really?" She puzzled, more so to herself. Jeremy didn't seem this callous, this cruel. But power – this kind of power – it was a disease that sucked your very soul out, replacing any light with only darkness.

"Power" Cecile confirmed, "he was ostracised from the coven most of his life for his archaic beliefs about the status of witches in the supernatural world. He was always banging on and on about how he wanted to restore our rightful place at the top" she shrugged, "he's cuckoo bananas, but his family is old. So he remained in the coven. My mother never liked him or his preaching though. Said he unsettled the young witchlings, so she kept him away from the general coven"

"One witch could not accomplish what he seeks to do" Kate commented suspiciously, eying the female witch.

"No, he couldn't. But he's used so much blood magic, he's certifiably crazy. Drunk on power, dark power that bleeds into your soul and corrupts it."

" Can we stop him?" Micah asked nervously, glancing around at the deceased and brutalised bodies, decaying before their very eyes.

"I will stop your brother Micah, make no mistake, and I will see that he is made to pay for this" Cecile replied, her tone cold and unfeeling. Micah stumbled slightly, his tears freely falling down his face as he nodded sadly. His brother was lost to him now, he knew this. They all did. They need only look around to see the evidence of it.

The witch, the man, the brother, Micah knew. Was gone. Had been gone for a long while.

"How can I help?" He asked, his voice breaking slightly. Three sets of eyes met the young male – curious, sad and pitying.

"Pray to the First Witch Micah, because you'll fucking need it" Cecile responded with a pointed look.

~

"It doesn't have to be this way, Jer" Micah pleaded, his arms raised in a surrender sign, moist palms up and flat. Jeremy glowered at him, his eyes completely black. His unkempt hair had grown and lay in lazy ringlets over the tips of his ears. His clothes were dishevelled and dirt clung to his tan face and neck.

"Micah…." Jeremy's deep voice boomed, a long exhausted sigh followed the name. Isabella swallowed, her hand tightening unconsciously around her dagger as she watched the reunion between the brothers. "You should not have come" he stated coldly.

Kate met Isabella's eyes from her position across the room and Isabella nodded briefly. They promised Micah one chance to get him to see reason. That's all he would get. One chance. One moment. To search for, to coerce the bother he believed him to be back.

"It's not too late brother, I can help you…" a sinister laugh echoed throughout the room, the sound ricocheted off the walls and Isabella felt it rattle her very core. She knew then, as did they all, that Jeremy was truly lost. She felt a profound sadness, and for a moment Isabella wasn't certain if it was her own or the young man before her. She looked at the young witch, and his crestfallen expression told her all she needed to know.

The sadness belonged solely to him. It blended together with his panic from deep within his heart and spilled into his very energy, his soul. Isabella almost choked on it, on the despair and panic. Orion tried desperately to help centre her – she hated this ability most of all and usually had it shut down, only feeling deep emotions that were projected onto her due to the severity of them. Most people didn't even realise they did it. She hated it.

It was Kate whose low reassuring nod which allowed her to swallow the unwelcome emotions and memories they dragged into her mind and finally shut the channel down.

" Help me?" Jeremy laughed without humour "Jesus, you were always such a fucking bore, brother " he sneered. Isabella watched in horror as Micah was suddenly flung several feet from his position by a swift flick of Jeremy's wrist. His footsteps drew farther away from her position as he stalked closer to the whimpering young witch.

"We can be stronger than the lot of them. We used to be. We will be again. Join me brother, together, we can restore our rightful place on the top!"

"N-no Jer, it, it's n-not right" Micah stuttered.

Jeremy's shook his head and bent on his knee. He lifted his brothers chin, a slow treacle of blood dripped down his cheek from a shallow wound and Jeremy wiped it away with his thumb.

"Jeremy, please " Micah tried.

"We'll make them pay, and if I have to kill you to do it, then so be it" Jeremy spat, violently shoving his brothers bruised chin away, his head immediately lowered in shame or despair.

Isabella didn't stall any longer. She rose and stepped into a shadow of her making, manipulating it to hide her body as she sped towards the Blood Witch in a whirl of dark fury.

Isabella shot out her hand and gripped Jeremy's wrist before he could inflict more pain onto his poor brother. The witches eyes widened as he took in the body of the stranger who'd appeared before him in a cloud of black smoke and shadow.

"I don't think so buddy" Isabella said.

"I wondered when you'd show your face, dark creature" he said, and she was momentarily offended by the strange address. Until he swiftly wrenched his arm free and slammed his palm flat against Isabella's chest as he muttered a powerful defensive spell.

Isabella was sent several feet back, her body slamming violently against a wall, the old stone crumbled around her, dust clouds floated in front of her face as she slumped to the floor with a low grunt.

She quickly dusted herself off when she saw a crackling blur whizz toward Jeremy, a glint of a silver long sword shone and sparked with electricity as it was brought down and thrust into Jeremy's shoulder.

The witch howled and narrowed his eyes at the vampire warrior, who wore a cruel smirk as she kept her defensive stance, sword dripping blood clenched in her fist. Her blonde hair had been tied back though her skin crackled with electric energy as the little bolts danced along her bare arms. Isabella briefly thought she looked very, very hot. She shook her head. Not the time, she scolded herself.

The witch suddenly snarled at the stoic vampire as he threw spell after spell at the her, most of which she dodged with her superior reflexes. Though, Isabella watched in horror as some landed on her body – deep cracks forming immediately.

Isabella ran at the witch at an impossible speed, her eyes blazing bright green as she slammed her body into his with a loud crash.

"Stop, for fuck sake, you won't win this fight" she said through gritted teeth as she struggled to subdue the writhing man.

"Hold him steady" Kate grit out as she approached and gripped his wounded arm so tight she heard the beginnings of his bones crushing. The man hissed between his teeth as blood spilled from the wound in a slow treacle. Jeremy maintained his pulling and wriggling as his eyes widened in pain and anger.

"Jeremy, please listen to us" his brother tried from a short distance away, his eyes bloodshot, his cheeks tear stained. Jeremy merely laughed, staring pointedly at the open space behind them.

Several things happened at once…

Kate was suddenly assaulted by hundreds of tiny shards of solid silver titanium, the vampire cried out and fell to the ground, immediately loosening her grip on the man's arm. She frantically began clawing at the shards and pulling them from her body.

Isabella glared widely at Jeremy, before a sharp stabbing pain emanated from her back. Shock reverberated throughout her body at the pain. She too, sank to the cold concrete floor, blood oozing from the new wound and soaking through her black tank top.

Jeremy immediately jerked free from the wounded pair and stepped over her broken body, a wicked grin on his face.

"I'm sorry it came to this, Isabella" a husky voice drawled, and Isabella's eyes narrowed dangerously as Cecile – fucking Cecile! – carefully took Jeremy's hand and briefly kissed it, her own evil smile on her face.

Kate spat several profanities as she crawled closer to Isabella, trying desperately to reach the other woman.

"You fucking bitch!" Isabella replied. "Was this your plan Cecile? Some crazy elaborate trap? How fucking original of you! For what purpose?" She seethed.

Musical laughter filled the room as Cecile's eyes darkened as she whispered an incantation Isabella couldn't make out the foreign words. But it sounded ancient and powerful. She swallowed uncomfortably, staring helplessly at Kate. Dark gold met emerald green and both women somewhat paled.

Isabella could only watch in muted horror as red blood crawled towards the traitor and swirled around her in a huge terrifying arch. Her eyes entirely blackened as she finished the spell.

They noticed too late that the blood Cecile conjured for her sinister spell was that of Jeremy's younger brother, Micah, as he lay curled in a ball, lifeless and discarded on the ground. Dying slowly and painfully at the hands of his own kin and coven leaders daughter.

A fury so potent and deadly stole Isabella's breath as she screamed bloody fucking murder. Her throat raw and painful as the new wounds on her body bled and throbbed.

She became vengeance incarnate.

She thought of yet another person who betrayed her, someone she'd trusted for so many weeks, who had ultimately lied to her. Lead her into false pretences and whispered half truths before she stabbed her literally in the back. Cecile was never a friend but she had now become an enemy. She didn't have the wherewithal to apologise to Orion before she stood and she ignited.

"Run!" She heard Cecile shout in the chaos.

She saw the traitor and her – lover? – stumble away, dark tendrils of her power frantically slithering after them and Kate's wide, terrified and awe filled expression as she caught Isabella and wrapped her in her strong arms.

"Mám ťa krásny anjel" [I got you beautiful angel] Kate whispered.

Isabella half smiled, half grimaced before the world faded to black…

AN: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the glimpse into Isabella's not so distant past, as promised I showcased some of her growing abilities, her developing personality and hopefully you're beginning to see things shaping up so we can catch up to present time. This is laying out some ground work for current time and Future events which Rosella should be handling.

As always your comments fuel my enthusiasm to continue the story, so give me some of that fuel!

Next chapter will explore Isabella's 'fling/dalliance' with Kate, some aftermath of these events before returning to present day cabin in Alaska. Now is your chance to influence any scenes you're particularly looking forward to or want to see people!