Chapter 12

You Know My Name part 1

Everyone had met in the living room, waiting for Angela to come home. Fareeha had assured them she had been working in the lab all day, and Sombra believed her. She'd been wracking her brain to find an answer to this mystery and began to doubt even her own sanity. Why would the Witch appear to her looking like Angela? Was it a trick, or the truth? She'd been pacing the floor ever since she came home, to Hana's annoyance. She wanted Sombra to calm down, to sit down, or maybe take a nap. But every single one of her attempt at calming the other girl had turned out very poorly.

The door opened, and Sombra stopped pacing, her eyes on the door. Only, she groaned when she saw Lena passing the threshold at top speed. She stopped in the living room and noticed that everyone was already there, besides Angela.

"So, what's the big deal?" she asked when she sat down next to Fareeha on the couch.

"Nothing that concerns you." Sombra declared, before retreating to her thoughts.

Lena jumped to her feet and glared at the Latina. The device on her chest seemed to glow even brighter.

"Okay, I've had enough! You've been ignoring me ever since the accident! I know I don't do much most of the time, but now I can help, but you've got to let me! I don't care whether I'm a creation, or whatever you want to call it!"

Sombra stopped pacing to stare at her. Fareeha seemed to agree with Lena, arms crossed and watching Sombra, ready to hear her answer. Jesse seemed interested in the situation, while Hana watched their argument sadly.

"If you want to kill me, then go on! But I won't let you kill me easily!"

Sombra seemed still half buried in her thoughts when she replied:

"There are more important things at stakes now. If you want to come along, then do. If you want to prove me something, then do. I don't care anymore."

Lena was stunned to hear Sombra so distant as if she didn't care about anything. She sat back down, and waited, the glow on her chest softening. Sombra stopped pacing, only to stand still, her gaze to the floor, her mind far from the house. Hana was about to stand up to try and talk to her, but Jesse stood up first. He placed a hand on Sombra's shoulder, taking her out of her thoughts.

"Why don't you start by telling us what is going on? A vague 'something happened' ain't gonna cut it, you know?"

Sombra glanced at the door and nodded. Jesse sat back down next to the ghostly shape of his father.

"I confronted the Witch. She used the trap to open her door to place me under some kind of mind curse, to communicate with me. And somehow, she took Angela's appearance."

There was a stunned silence, as if none of them really grasp the situation.

"I don't know what it means really. Is it how she looks like, in that case, what does it mean for Angela? Was it just a trick? The more I think about it the more I know it can't be a coincidence."

Jesse nodded.

"What do you mean?" Fareeha asked.

She glanced at Hana.

"Today I was talking to Hana, telling her how everything that was happening was centered around me, as if the Witch wanted to tell me something. But I was wrong."

Sombra fetched a chair from the dining room and sat in front of everyone.

"The first time the Witch attacked was the Halloween party, remember? She sent two creations to attack us."

Sombra seemed to fidget as she recalled her first exchanged with the Witch.

"She already knew I was a hunter back then, and she implied she had another name she liked above all of those she'd been given. And somehow, she already knew that I'm a..."

Sombra trailed, words failing her.

"The second time was the curse on Mei. Not a lot of things to say. It was broken by a professional witch hunter."

Sombra glanced at Fareeha, expectantly.

"Hum... Zarya said she wasn't coming because she doesn't want to associate with monsters like you..."

Sombra pursed her lips, annoyed. Of course.

"Then we have the shadows following girls around the campus. I went through a bunch of hypothesis on this one, but I'm assuming a dragon would have been able to tell a vampire from a werewolf. It had to be an illusion, like the first time I had met the Witch. Finally, the demon cruse on Angela. I thought it had failed because of distance, but this is a very powerful Witch."

"And Lucio?" Hana asked.

"Lucio. He doesn't fit in my hypothesis, and I still don't know why she would curse him. We'll have to look more into it later."

"Yes please!" Lucio's muffled voice came to their ears. Hana had left his box on the dining table ever since they'd come back, giving him a glass of orange juice to drink from.

"So, why were you wrong?" Fareeha asked.

Jesse seemed to have caught up with his sister's reflection, and explained:

"It wasn't aimed at Sombra. All if those attacks were aimed at Angela."

Sombra nodded.

"More specifically, they involved Angela one way or another. The monster she created at the Halloween party should remind you of someone, Fareeha, because he was coming straight from the story you told Angela, not ten minutes before."

Fareeha's mouth opened as she realized what Sombra was telling them was true.

"Mei is Angela's only friend in the lab, a very close target. Angela was one of the girls Genji kidnapped. And finally, the demon curse."

"But the demon cursed failed," Jesse noted.

Sombra nodded.

"My theory is mostly based on this failed curse. If it had succeeded, the Witch would have taken over Angela's body, and teleported away. Dad, you know quite a lot about curses, don't you?"

Gabe shrugged.

"I know a thing or two, yeah."

"What is the first thing a person under a demon curse does?"

"Changes from person to person. Sometimes they go and buy some ice cream. Sometimes they visit some shady places. Most of the time, they go to find their creators."

Sombra sent a pointed look to the rest of the group.

"If the curse had worked, how much do you want to bet Angela would have been in the hands of the Witch by now, and we would still be here, trying to figure out a way to free her?"

Fareeha shuttered at the thought.

"Thank god it failed then..." Lena said.

"Stop digressing and tell us what the heck is going on!" Jesse declared, exasperated by his sister's logical reasoning.

Sombra crossed her arms.

"Angela isn't the Witch, but the Witch is Angela."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Code of hunters, rule number 46."

She waited for Jesse to answer, but he just stared at her dumbfounded. She sighed.

"And he's the official one... Rule 46 says that under no circumstances should a person with magical abilities separate themselves from those magical abilities. Should a hunter be caught separating someone from their magical abilities..."

"... he'll be suspended, I get it. So you think Angela used to be a witch, but someone broke those ties. And the Witch is trying to reconnect with Angela?"

"No. She's a by-product of Angela's existence. If they reconnect she'll be absorbed. But killing Angela..."

Sombra wasn't able to continue her thought, as Fareeha began to visibly tense, causing Lena to move a bit farther away from her.

"So we kill the Witch." Fareeha declared through clenched teeth.

"We still need to make sure of something. There's an undeniable link between Angela and the Witch, but I want to make sure of it."

Sombra looked at Jesse.

"When Angela comes back, I want you to tell her your name."

Jesse shook vigorously his head.

"No way! You do it!"

"I can't. She already knows mine."

Lena seemed shocked for a few seconds.

"We all know your name, you know?"

Sombra looked exasperatedly at Lena.

"You really thought Sombra was my real name?"

Lena sank into the couch.

"Well... I mean..."

"We hunters have a real name only known to ourselves," Gabe explained. "If this name is discovered by someone, it can be used against us. It's magical."

"Meaning Sombra can't kill the Witch." Lena understood.

"I could, but she only has to order me not to do it and I would be forced not to."

Sombra looked back at Jesse.

"Do you trust me?"

"Well, the last time you said that we ended up running away from a pack of angry snowmen, but alright. I'll do it."

Angela got home right before eight. She knew she shouldn't come home so late, because it meant the others had to do her chores, but work had once again taken over her mind. She walked in, quickly taking her jacket off as she declared:

"I'm so sorry! I was so focused I forgot to look at the clock and..."

She stopped when she noticed the living room was crowded, and all eyes were on her.

"Oh, I didn't know tonight was a special night."

Sombra, who hadn't left her chair at all while they waited for Angela to show up, turned around.

"It's not a special night, really. I just wanted to test everyone's magical resistance. Why don't you join in?"

Angela frowned.

"It seems dangerous..."

Fareeha reassured her with a smile.

"It isn't, don't worry. I'm fine, look."

She stood up and walked up to Angela, taking her hands and giving her a kiss. Once Angela was reassured that Fareeha was fine, she shrugged.

"Sure, why not? I'm always interested in experiments."

Sombra smirked and stood up to leave her chair to Angela.

"Come on, seat down, I'll be right back."

The blond did as she was told, and Fareeha sat back on the couch, arms crossed and gaze on the ground. She hated to have to lie to Angela, but she understood what Sombra had implied. What Angela knew, the Witch knew.

Sombra came back with a spell book and an ancient gold necklace, with a large flat ruby as the pendant. She handed it to Angela.

"Here, put this on."

"What is it?" Angela asked as she took the jewel in her hands.

"A thought controlling necklace. I stole it from a vampire. Anyway, put it on, and we'll see how well I can control you."

Angela glanced at the jewel, Fareeha, and Sombra.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?"

Sombra crossed her arms.

"I promise I won't make you do anything stupid."

Fareeha nodded behind Sombra, and Angela reluctantly placed the necklace around her neck. She suddenly felt like her head was heating up, as if her brain was overheating. Sombra looked at the book in hands, and finally asked:

"First, tell us what you think of Fareeha?"

Angela blushed, but answered:

"I think she's brave and strong, and she has a good heart, and I like her very much."

Sombra looked back at the book, while Fareeha blushed and smiled brightly at the girlfriend.

"Did you answer because I asked you to or would you have answered without the necklace?"

Angela thought about it for a minute.

"I don't know. Maybe both?"

Sombra glanced one last time at the book.

"Tell us Fareeha is an idiot."

Angela seemed to focus for a second, her lips pursed and her eyes fixed on nothing. Finally, she declared:

"I won't do it."

At this, the entire room glanced at each other. Jesse frowned.

"Are you sure this necklace it magical?"

"Unlike someone, I know what I'm doing, Joel!"

Jesse seemed even more shocked than the rest of the room. It was Fareeha who exploded into laughter first.

"Joel?"

"Oh yeah, you thought his real name was Jesse? He can't be that cool!"

While the rest of the group teased Jesse for his real name, Sombra turned back to Angela. She frowned. There was something, deep in the blond's eyes, the way she looked at Jesse. Sombra wondered whether the Witch was controlling her, or this was their link, a small flame in the back of Angela's gaze.

"Alright, now I want you to tell me something about your childhood, whatever you want."

Angela once again focused, but this time it was different. Instead of fighting the magic of the necklace off, this time she seemed quite lost. She frowned.

"I can't really remember anything."

At her words, the rest of the room fell silent.

"It was such a long time ago, I don't even remember what I used to play with..."

Fareeha felt almost compelled to hug her girlfriend. She stood up, but before she could do anything Sombra stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"You can take the necklace off, Angela. Fareeha, put it on."

The taller girl pouted.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes. I need to show what it does under normal circumstances."

Angela took the necklace off, and she already seemed to be feeling better. She handed it to her girlfriend, though Fareeha first took the time to place a kiss on the crown of her head. She then put the necklace on, and Sombra closed the book.

"Tell us who's the stupidest member of the group."

"Jesse."

The answer was so spontaneous that Fareeha clapped her hands over her mouth, shocked to have spoken to easily.

"But isn't Jesse the smartest member of the group?"

"Yes, he is!" Fareeha eagerly answered.

"Tell us about the first thing you thought about Lena."

Fareeha managed to fight the necklace's magic, if only for a second, before she burst out:

"Does she ever stop talking?"

Lena laughed, not one bit offended by Fareeha's thought. Sombra nodded and declared:

"You can take it off."

Fareeha did so with a relieved sigh and handed the necklace back to Sombra.

"So, I think we can all agree that Angela has a very high degree of magical resistance, unlike others."

"Which means?" Angela asked.

"We're going to go hunt a witch tonight, and you're coming with us."

They arrived at the old market in two different cars, only because Sombra and Jesse had so many weapons to carry. When they parked at the entrance, Hanzo, who had been seating on a bench there, stood up. Jesse climbed off the car and came to greet awkwardly the dragon man. Sombra questioned them with a raised eyebrow.

"You said we needed as much reinforcement as possible, so I called Hanzo."

Hanzo nodded and declared:

"Genji apologizes he couldn't come, but he's been going to meditation lessons on Thursday nights and he doesn't want to miss a class."

Sombra sighed.

"Alright, come on!"

They all grouped around a map of the old market placed inside the trunk of Sombra's car, and she began to explain:

"This is where we found the entrance to the Witch's lair. There's a spell protecting it, but I believe Angela should get us through. It's possible that she boobytrapped the whole market, but I doubt it. It would consume too much energy and for the seven of us it's a waste of time."

"So we get in, and then?" Jesse asked.

"We find the Witch, and do whatever we have to."

They all nodded, ready to end it this night, except Angela, who felt a bit lost from having received only half of the information.

"Alright, let's go."

Sombra closed the map, picked up the spell book she'd used in their living room, attaching it to her belt through the large metal ring sticking out from the leather bound cover, and closed her trunk.

Together as a group of seven, they followed the path Sombra and Hana knew all too well by now. The shops were all closed, and only the glow of the moon illuminated them. Lena had taken her flashlight with her, but the light of her chrono-accelerator was so powerful it shamed the yellow light of the flashlight.

Angela had taken her first aid kit with her, as she felt it would come to use before the end of the night. The more they walked forward and the more she frowned and huffed. There was something strange and familiar about this market, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she may have visited it once or twice. Fareeha slowed down just enough to take the blond's hand in hers.

"It's alright. I'll protect you."

Angela smiled.

"I know you will."

At the front of the group, Hana hadn't lost the two girls' exchanged. She moved closer to Sombra and whispered:

"When are we going to tell her?"

Sombra glanced back at the blond.

"If anything goes according to plan, we won't have to."

The whole group stopped in front of the brick wall, its fading painting only illuminated by Lena's device. Under the blue light, Sombra walked closer to the wall and began to search for the hole again. She thought for sure it was where she'd been searching, but the Witch might have moved it. She searched higher, then lower, and finally found it south-west to where it been a few hours earlier.

"Angela."

The blond let go of Fareeha and moved closer to the Latina, her heart beating frantically. There was a strange feeling in her stomach, one which made her want to cry and faint, though she couldn't understand why.

"Put your hand in the hole. There should be a piece of glass or something. Cut yourself on it, and make sure some of your blood falls inside. It should open the door."

Angela bit her lower lip. She was about to ask if she really had to do it, but with six people waiting on her and that bad premonition haunting her body, she decided to obey. She passed tentatively her hand into the hole, until she felt the piece of glass, like Sombra had predicted. She passed a finger over it, feeling both the smoothness and cold of the glass and its sharpness. She passed her finger over the pointed part multiple times, until she realized that if she didn't put pressure nothing would happen. So she did. She clenched her teeth as glass cut through her skin, and the burning feeling of blood running down her finger made her want to retract her hand instantly. But she waited, just like Sombra had told her. She thought she could almost count how many drops of blood had fallen inside the hole until they heard the grinding of stones, and she quickly removed her hand. She held in under the blue light and stared at the unequal cut still bleeding out with stunned silence. Behind her, the bricks began to move. They turned and rolled away like a parting curtain, until a large and dark entrance was left open.

"Let's go." Sombra declared.

The group moved forward, and Fareeha took Angela with her, not only tearing her away from her daze but also helping her bandage the cut while they walked.

They quickly found a set of stairs in the darkness, and walked down, descending more and more deeply underground. Lena, though very much able to see through the darkness, was almost tempted to turn her flashlight on. From time to time she glanced back, but now that they were deep enough she couldn't see the entrance anymore.

Suddenly she thought she'd heard something, like a whisper in the wind, which seemed to call her. She stopped, but Jesse quickly caught her arm and pulled her with him, forcing her to walk.

"We need to stay together, alright?"

She nodded, still clenching her flashlight as if it were the most dangerous weapon the group owned.

She didn't stay much longer without turning it on, but the beam of light couldn't find anything, other than darkness, and the walls of the hallway.

"Lena, turn it off." Sombra huffed. "It's useless."

"I know..."

Lena obeyed, only leaving the group to wander around with the light of her chrono-accelerator.

Suddenly she heard it again, less a whisper and more or a word, said right to her ear. She shivered and looked back. She almost tripped over her feet, and had to remind herself that she needed to keep moving, else the group would leave her behind. She looked in front of her, and stopped moving altogether.

Gone was the dark hallway and the wind whispering in her ear. She was back to the surface, in the old market. She could only guess it was where she was, because the heaviest fog she'd ever seen was surrounding her. Gone, also, was the rest of the group, and she didn't know whether she'd been left behind, or she'd distanced them. She was alone.

A/N: Hi guys! Who's excited for the grand finale tomorrow! I know that was a lot of talking, and a lot of things to clear up, but tomorrow is going to be very action packed, I promise! And I also will have a surprise for you! So, see you then!