The sweet, potent smell of lavender overwhelmed my senses. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see were purple petals and little green stalks. The small delicate flower had buried itself deep into my mind over the past hour. It was bound to when you were placing a bunch on someone's remains.
Lavender was one of the few things that you could find in both the human realm and the demon realm. But in the demon realm, they were often used to prepare a dead witch's body for burial. They were supposedly used to hide the smell of death, which they seemed to be doing very well at the moment.
Instead of bringing his body back to the manor, his sisters and I brought Edric to the owl house. It was a very difficult thing to do. It took both my and Emira's strength combined just to lift him let alone get him out of the refuge and through the brush. But eventually we got close enough for Amity to go fetch Eda, who had a much easier time carrying him.
Now the late witch was laying in the middle of the clearing, covered in some wild lavender we'd gathered from the woods behind us. While I placed the flowers down, Amity and Emira were soaking in their grief beside him.
To say his twin was devastated would be a drastic understatement. According to Edric, the poison he took was meant for her. Her own mother had just tried to take her life, and she would've succeeded too had her brother not intervened.
Emira was lucky to be alive, though it cost her something that meant just as much to her as her life.
"I know somewhere nice we can bury him" Eda spoke up, her voice unusually soft.
"No" Emira choked. "He's going to be buried at the Bonesburrow cemetery, right next to Amity".
"You seriously aren't thinking about going back to the manor, are you?" I asked with a lump of dread in my throat. "Who knows what your mother will do?".
"I'm not going to just abandon Edric. I have to go back".
"Look, kid" my mentor sighed. "I know you're worried about your brother; we all are. But what do you think will happen if you bring a body back to a witch who's out to get you? It's safer for you to stay here".
"Except it isn't," Emira snarled. "I get you've been running from the emperor's coven for a long time, but we aren't talking about just the emperor's coven here! Mom literally sells weapons to murderous witches for a living. She's going to find me eventually, and I don't want to be in the same place Amity is hiding when she does".
"You don't think I know how to handle hit men? I've been dodging them for years" the older woman argued.
"These won't be just any hit men. This'll be the best hit men money can buy, hit men who have killed some of the wealthiest and powerful witches on the isles. And the emperor's coven will be even more after you than before. Being a thief, a con-woman, or even a wild witch isn't as bad as kidnapping a witchling".
"So, what's your plan instead, Em?" Amity pressed, her desperation making her voice waver.
"I don't know," her sister admitted. "But I have to go back".
"Emira, if you go back to the manor, mom will kill you. And you can't help Edric if you're dead". The spirit's words made Emira sink in dejection. The hopelessness in her tear-filled eyes grew even deeper.
"That might be the only way I can help Edric," she said after taking a deep breath. She humorlessly laughed. "Of course, Edric can't move on to the spirit realm without me. He always said we were going to die together".
"No!" Amity spat, her sadness lighting into anger. "I've already lost my life, my home, and my brother! I'm not going to just stand around and lose my sister too!".
"So, you want me to just stand around and let our brother get tortured?!".
Both sisters' ears went flat. They bared their fangs at each other like two cats ready to tear each other to bits. The last thing either one wanted was to hurt one another, especially at a dangerous time like that, but Amity wasn't going to let Emira leave without a fight and Emira was desperate to get back to the manor.
If Edric had been there to see the sorry shape his sisters were in, his un-beating heart would've broken into pieces. I know they were both horrified on top of all their new grief, but above your sibling's body was not the best place to be fighting. Despite the urgency of the situation, the two Blights needed some time to mourn before figuring out what to do next.
"We aren't going to think of a plan in this kind of shape. We all need to take a breather and cool down" I jumped in. I pushed the dwindling pile of flowers over to Amity and Emira. "Here. You guys put the rest of these on, while I go get some more".
Before either of the witches had any time to argue, I hurried through the bushes, out into the woods. I silently prayed that the two younger witches would take my suggestion instead of fighting more. After everything they'd been through, they needed the distraction.
The patch of lavender wasn't far, just about a third of the way back towards the refuge. It shouldn't have taken me long to make it there, gather a bundle, and return to the owl house.
Yet I was only able to pick a few stems before a rustling noise interrupted me. I turned, fear slowly rising through me, as I expect for some large creature as horrifying as the boiling isles itself to lumber out. But what stalked out from behind the trees was something much worse.
I didn't recognize the witch, I'd never seen her before, but the minty green hair and the light pale skin gave away who she was. Once the realization hit me, I jumped up and began to walk backwards. The flowers I was picking moments ago were now crushed under my feet.
Mrs. Blight had finally found me.
"There's no reason to be scared" she hushed with a plastic smile. "Unless you know of one I don't".
"Well…I mean…" I stammered. "You could…possibly…say I killed Amity…If you really want to".
"Don't flatter yourself. That was simply an accident." Odalia chuckled. "And that's not why I'm here anyways".
"Then what do you want with me?" I asked despite already knowing. Edric didn't say anything about her knowing I had the amulet. But she apparently did, and she looked determined to get it back.
Luckily the amulet wasn't on me. It was safely in Eda's possession while I was away. Even though she found me, Odalia still had no clue as to where her two daughters were hiding.
"Well…". The filicidal witch slightly inched closer to me. "I've gotten word that you have a certain piece of jewelry that belongs to me".
A shot of fury squeezed its way past all my fear. She spoke as if Amity was a mere possession. She really was as bad as her children made her out to be!
"Amity doesn't belong to you!" I snapped. "She's her own witch!". Odalia's ear flicked in intrigue.
"You're not going to deny it? I'm glad to see you're smarter than I'd thought you'd be".
"You already know that I know. There's no reason to beat around the bush here".
The dangerous woman's welcoming facade dropped for a moment, allowing her confusion to peek out. She then quickly disregarded my weird human phrase and went back to being "friendly".
"Then I suppose you know why I need the amulet back".
"Not happening! Amity lives with us now, and she's never been happier!".
"Oh please," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "I'm sure living with a trash collector and her exotic pet is wonderful, but you're majorly wasting her potential".
"Says the lady who just offed her own son like he was some sort of rat".
Odalia flinched as she struggled to keep her ire inside. For a small sliver of a second, you could see a raw animalistic pain swimming in her eyes. Her gaping stretched out the wrinkles just starting to grow on her face, making her look as though her grief was corroding her.
Pain? Grief? I must have seen wrong. For her to feel either of those emotions she would have to actually care about her children. And I mean her children, not their success and image. Yet the mention of Edric was enough to break her, if only for a moment.
"Isn't one dead kid to boss around enough?" I continued. "Do you really–".
"Human!" the witch snapped irritably. She then took a moment to gather her composure. "It would be the best, for the both of us, if you don't mention Edric".
"Oh no" I growled. "I'm not going to just pretend Edric doesn't exist, not after watching him die".
"You witnessed him die?" she questioned as if the idea was ridiculous.
"Yeah," I huffed as the horrible memories resurfaced. "It's not like you care, but he died peacefully with his two sisters by his side".
Once again, the witch in front of me flinched. Her eyes went wide at the mention of her other two children, as if a horrible realization just struck her like lightning. Just like earlier, she tried to stuff her emotion back in, but this time her anger stayed on the outside.
"Where is he anyways?" I wondered aloud. "You didn't leave his amulet back at the manor did you, after Amity was stolen and all".
Odalia's silence sparked a little bit of hope in me. Did that mean…
"Did you fail to put him in an amulet? That means he's made it to the spirit realm!".
"What part of "don't talk about Edric" are you not understanding?!" she yowled, which only made me laugh more.
"I can't believe he escaped! Thats…". As I spoke, I started to think about it a little more. Didn't Edric want to be put in an amulet? Well, he didn't "want" to be but that was his plan. He thought it was the only way to protect his twin.
A dark realization of my own cut my laughter off.
"Odalia" I rasped, my voice growing dark. "What did you do to Edric?".
Instead of shouting, Odalia lashed out physically. She grabbed onto my arm so tight I thought it would pop, then began to pull me through the bracken. I dug my heels into the dirt in an attempt to stop her, but she was just too strong.
"What are you doing?!" I hollered.
"I honestly find you the most insufferable person I've ever met" she gnarled through her gnashed fangs. "But if Amity is so damn insistent on keeping you around then I'm willing to oblige".
"You're gonna KIDNAP me?!".
"Yes, but the kidnapping isn't the part you should be worried about," the deranged witch humorlessly purred, making me want to retch. "I hope whatever family you have in the human realm don't plan on seeing you alive again".
She wanted to KILL ME! ¡DIOS! She was going to put me in an amulet, just like Amity!
In my extreme panic I instantly sunk my teeth into the older woman's arm. I may not have had fangs like she did but it was enough to get her to release her hold of me. As she reared back and hissed in pain, I fled as fast as I could into the bushes.
I had nowhere to run. I couldn't head back towards the owl house, that would lead Odalia straight to Amity and Emira, and town was too far away. I would have to find somewhere to hide. Maybe the refu—
Something wrapped around my ankle and yanked me to the dirt below. I looked back at my foot while trying to shake it loose. A glowing yellow rope made from magic grew tighter and tighter the more I moved, just like a snare.
"Don't struggle," Odalia commanded as she drug me against the ground. "It'll make things more difficult for the both of us,".
"This is a horrible idea!" I shouted back. "Don't you know who my mentor is".
"Yes. I'm aware. But do you really think I'm scared of a cursed witch with an oversized bounty?".
"You haven't seen her cursed form". I shuddered as the horrifying beast popped into my head.
"And yet I have".
"What?! When?!". When Odalia didn't answer, I pushed even harder. "Okay, you need to put this evil scheme on hold and tell me everything!".
"Evil?" I'd hardly call this evil".
"YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!".
"Yes, but you're a small price to pay to get my daughter back home safely".
"And what about your son?". At that, the rope of magic binding me crawled its way to my mouth, silencing me for the rest of the way back to the manor.
I didn't get the best look at it, what with being on the ground, but the sight of Amity's old home still stunned me. It was an old but well-kept Victorian style mansion. Just like the family that stayed there, it radiated power and prestige. Littered around it were many different abomination golems. Some of them were housekeeping while others were keeping watch.
Once the two of us were in what I think was the living room, my kidnapper stopped. She momentarily let go of the rope and cracked her aching back, wincing and groaning in pain as he did so.
If I had any chance of escaping, it would be now. But I wasn't going anywhere while tied up. The sadistic woman wasn't about to let me go and there was no way in hell I would break the rope with my own strength. There was really only one way I could've been freed from my confinement. I had to find a way to attack Odalia, and that attack had to be strong enough to make the spell around me fall.
I needed to make a glyph, but how was I supposed to draw one without a pen, a piece of paper, and at least one free hand? Well, I had done it before, back on the knee. My first ice glyph was drawn on a frozen lake in blood.
While trying my hardest to be quiet, I flipped onto my side and faced the floor. I took a deep breath, then rapidly slammed my forehead into the floor a few times. Just as I had hoped, a small cut appeared that began to gush out blood. I stuck my nose into the blood pooling on the ground, then tried my hardest to draw the best ice glyph I could.
By the time Odalia noticed what I was doing, a huge pillar of ice was flying right towards her. I didn't see her get hit, but her surprised howl signified my freedom. Soon after that the rope disappeared, giving me back my ability to run.
I took no time to celebrate my victory. I launched onto my feet and raced as fast as my legs would go. Despite the exit being right behind me, I ran for cover. I wouldn't be able to outrun Odalia, no doubt. My only chance was to shake her off my tail before leaving the manor.
I shot through the first door I found, which actually looked to be the door to a basement. That was perfect! If it were anything like any other basement I'd been in, it would have a bunch of crap to hide behind and a pair of cellar doors.
But behind that door wasn't a basement. No, it looked more like a weird witch version of Frankenstein's laboratory. Abomination limbs were scattered everywhere along with a bunch of bronze scraps. There was a pair of blueprints resting over on a desk, though they partly submerged in a pile of papers beneath. And in the very back was a workbench with a huge chunk of abomination matter on it.
And in front of that desk, toiling away, was a taller man. His auburn hair was greasy and disheveled. Hell, all of him was greasy and disheveled. Just like the witch hunting me, his skin was very pale, though it was more of a sickly kind of pale like he had the flu. He looked daunting yet also feeble, strong but worn down.
If I were to hazard a guess, the witch in front of me was Amity's father Alador. Just like her mother, Amity didn't like to talk about him, but unlike her mother it was because there wasn't much to say. He spent most of his time working on inventions and barely talked to his kids.
According to Amity he had no knowledge of her being locked in an amulet. Her mother even specifically told her and her siblings not to tell him. So far, all three of them had listened. They didn't think telling him would help with anything. He rarely went against his wife.
But even Alador had to have had a problem with killing a child, right? Why else would Odalia not want him to know? I was still taking a risk, but maybe, just maybe, the witch would help me.
I lurched forwards and grabbed Alador's black coat. He jumped in surprise as his deep focus shattered. His sharp golden eyes quickly found me and locked with mine.
"What?" he yelped. "Who are you? How did you get in here?".
"Please!" My voice cracked in fear. "You have to help me!".
"What's going on?".
"Your wife brought me here! She's going to kill me! Please! Help me!".
The creaking of the work room door made me go quiet. I shrunk in place as I scanned my surroundings for a place to hide. But before I could move, Odalia walked in and spotted me. Her ice blue eyes froze me in place. With her blocking the entrance, my opportunity to run just expired.
"There you are," she sighed as if my disappearance worried her.
"Odalia?" Alador questioned. All of his surprise had faded into a passive apathy. "Who is this?".
"This is Luz," his wife answered calmly. "She's the human that's been working for Edalyn".
That information hit Alador like a bullet. He glanced over at my unusually round ears as everything began to make sense. I was the human who killed his youngest daughter, and his wife had drug me here to make me pay for what I did. It wasn't the full truth but the picture he painted wasn't that far off.
From what I could see, Alador didn't seem angry. But if I had learned anything about the Blights during all this, it was that they rarely showed how they were really feeling.
The grizzled witch let out a hmm and nodded in welcome. His attention then went straight back to his wife.
"She says you brought her here?".
Odalia's fake smile fell into an equally fake frown. She took a few steps towards me, making me back into the table.
"She's simply here to talk about Amity".
"Really? Did you know her?".
"No," I answered before Odalia could. "I've never really met her. I was just there when…you know".
"Then you must not have a lot to say about Amity then" Alador concluded.
"Well, we're not going to discuss Amity, per say" Odalia argued. "Just what happened at the school on that day".
"We know what happened," Alador argued back. "Principal Bump told us everything he knew".
"What he said was rather vague, don't you think?". Odalia put her hand on my shoulder. The more she spoke the harder her grasp got. "I want to know what exactly happened, and I trust Luz won't dance around the specifics. I'll fill you in once we're done with our meeting".
"She's lying!" I shouted. "She won't tell you about the amulet or Edric!".
Mention of the amulet didn't faze him, but the mention of his son piqued Alador's interest.
"What about Edric?".
"Edric has nothing to do with this". A small snarl escaped the witches feigned smile.
"He's in the woods! He's—". Odalia covered my mouth with her hand while she quietly growled.
"Don't mind her, dear" she sickeningly soothed. "Just go back to work".
Before I was led back out into the hallway, I sent Alador one more silent plea. Though, just like the Blight children said, he did nothing but gaze back at me. And just like that, any hopes of me escaping were shot down.
But my efforts may not have been completely in vain. As Odalia moved me deeper into the manor, a familiar creak bounced off the walls, straight to us. That sound was then followed by a shout.
"I'm going out for a little while".
