Chapter 4

"Thank you," Little Philip said with a shy smile as he took a bundle of corn from a guy who was selling them by the dozen inside the town.

He kneeled to the ground and began tying some thin rope around the bundle while the corn seller walked away.

"I swear… he may be a witch… like his mom…" some woman whispered to another as they were walking past him.

Little Philip did his best to focus on his knots, trying not to listen to the people's growing gossip, even though it made him feel his heart tug down.

"Maybe he's not," the other woman, short compared to the other, said in a hushed voice. "Their dad would never let the devil come back into that house again."

"Their dad is long gone… probably was lured to hell by the devil…"

"Oh, dear…" the short woman mumbled. "Well… maybe the boys won't be as easily influenced then…"

"I just know that his brother has those strange eyes like his mother… and that's why the minister is taking into consideration taking the little one under his wing."

The boy threw the bundle of corn behind his back before walking down the road.

People kept their distance from him, making sure there was a vast gap when they walked past him. Children would look at him with a mix of fear and hostility, never offering to play hide and seek with him.

He slightly spared a side glance to a child who was doing their best to help their mother unload from a cart bag of produce that their father had brought into town to fill up to their small store.

Little Philip's hands tightened their hold on the rope that held onto the corn and forced his tiny legs to move faster away from town and into the forest, down the path that would lead him to his home. He shoved the dark, heavy feeling that tried to claw into his heart. But honestly, he was having a harder time ignoring the sadness that would make his eyes slightly moisten up.

After a long period of walking, he eventually came to a stop right in front of the front door of his house. A house that stood far from others.

The house was a perfect size for a family, but…

Little Philip shook his head, annoyed.

"You are not a baby," he told himself. He took a deep breath before exhaling it and formed a smile on his face before barging into the living room.

"I've returned, Caleb!" he yelled with enthusiasm as he shut the door behind him. He ran to the kitchen, dropping the bundle of corn next to a small table. "I came back as fast as I could," he said with bright blue eyes to an older boy who was starting a fire in their small fireplace so he could start boiling the water that was inside a huge black pot.

The older boy turned to him, his magenta eyes lit up when looking down at his little brother.

"Good job, Philip," he said with a sweet smile, ruffling the little boy's hair. "Look at you, bringing that entire stack of corn by yourself now. You're growing stronger every day."

Philip stood up straight with his fists against his hips, grinning up at his brother with pride.

"I'll get so strong that I'll be able to hunt down all the witches and demons soon!" the little boy claimed loudly.

Caleb chuckled.

"You sure will," Caleb agreed, going over to their table, and picking up a piece of carved wood. "I've been working on something for you for a while," he said as he sat down on a tiny stool. He took out a knife from his back pocket. "I'm almost done with it."

Little Philip was curious, sitting down on the ground across from his brother. He smiled with enthusiasm as he watched his brother carve onto the wooden piece.

Caleb was very good at making things out of wood. There was a vast collection of wooden birds on top of one cabinet in the dining room that he had made; Philip loved looking at them.

One day, Philip was going to ask his brother to teach him how to make beautiful things out of wood. The way their mother had taught Caleb.

Little Philip kept observing his brother carve away while the usual question that would cross his mind came up again.

He wanted Caleb to talk about their mother, since he didn't have any memory of her.

But like always, he didn't dare to ask. He knew better than to ask his brother about their mother, a woman that was tainted by the devil when he was born.

At least, that's what he heard a lot in town.

"What are you making me?" Philip asked instead.

"Something that will hopefully scare the monsters while you hunt them down," Caleb said, carving holes into the wood. Philip realized his brother was making a mask. "This will make sure you are strong and brave," Caleb said once he was done carving down the second hole before showing it to Philip. "I think adding some horns to it will make it more interesting, don't you think?" Caleb suggested before the little boy jumped to his feet and took the mask from his brother.

Philip was filled with joy as he looked down at the unexpecting gift, but then, suddenly, he felt some dread in his heart.

He hesitantly looked up at Caleb, who was now looking at him with confusion.

"I'm sorry Philip, did you not like it?" Caleb asked. His brother just stared at him quietly. "It's okay if you didn't," Caleb was gentle, letting out an assuring smile. "I can make you a better one."

Philip wanted to ask Caleb if they would be lured by the devil as well, just like their parents were, but not wanting to worry his brother, he forced a smile on his face.

"Horns would for sure make it cooler," he agreed before placing the mask on his face.

It was a perfect fit.

Next thing little Philip knew, he was in the forest, with the mask on that now had two wooden horns sticking up.

He jabbed up in the sky a wooden sword while he looked down at his brother, who was standing at the bottom of a small cliff, wearing a tattered cape and wearing a long pointy hat like a witch was rumored to wear.

"I will hunt you all down!" Little Philip said, loud and proud.

The older boy was amused and waved his hand in a strange direction.

"Not before I eat the town's kids first," Caleb said with a high-pitched voice.

"I'll never let that happen," the little boy said, pointing down the sword in his brother's direction. "I will protect my brother and the town from evil creatures like you!"

The scene changed with little Philip helping his brother with picking up sticks for firewood in the forest, doing his best to be by his brother's side since he enjoyed their time spent together a lot.

"Witch!" Both boys heard screaming near them. "Chase after her!"

They saw a woman running through the forest and a group of people running after her.

"Can we join them?" Philip asked his brother right away, and Caleb smiled, nodding to him, and before they knew it, they were holding sticks as weapons, running alongside the mob.

After that, the townsfolk would approach little Philip every time he visited the town with smiles, giving him fruits, bread, and even milk. People would offer him and his brother side jobs now that they were taking part in the witch hunts.

The more witch hunts they helped in, the nicer people became towards them.

One day, there was a new guy in town that little Philip took notice of that everyone seemed to gather around while he spoke. People would greet him right away when he walked among them. The man was a large one, with a thick beard and a bald head.

"His name is Alexander," Little Philip had told his brother while they ate their cheese and bread at night at their small table. "He came from a different town and supposedly he has caught the most witches that anyone has ever done," he said with his mouth full of cheese. "I want to be like Alexander one day. I'll make sure no evil witch comes to our town, and I'll make sure you aren't taken by evil like our parents."

"I should be protecting you, since I'm the older brother," Caleb said with amusement, cutting a slice of bread before serving it to Philip's wooden plate. "But I know you'll become a great witch hunter like Alexander, if that's what you want to be."

The little boy continued eating his food with his hands.

"Today, someone told me the Minister wants to make me in as his apprentice," the little boy revealed. "Is it okay if I say yes if he asks me?"

"Of course, it's okay," Caleb said in a gentle tone. "I think having an adult role model will be good for you."

"I promise I'll be good and learn as much as I can," Philip said.

"I know you will," Caleb said before the scene turned dark, and Philip was now a teenager, wearing the mask that his brother had made him when he was very young. He was holding a long pitchfork while people were running around in the forest, women screaming out with fear that the devil was in their presence.

The word had gotten out that some strange figure did some magic in town in front of a crowd, and it left everyone in a frenzy of panic. Philip and Caleb had grabbed their pitchforks and went out looking for the foul creature.

Along the way, the boys separated, which now was making Philip worry for his brother.

Instead of looking for the witch, Philip began seeking his brother out.

He had to find him…

He had to keep him safe…

Philip couldn't lose him like he had lost his parents. Even though he could barely remember them, he had grown afraid his brother would suffer the same fate as them.

Caleb was the last person he loved left in the world.

Yes, the town people treated him now with respect, but… his brother was the person he cherished the most. His brother… almost like a father to him…

He couldn't lose him…

Philip's heart raced painfully as he continued to walk deeper into the forest.

Dark thoughts clawed at him, reminding him of the old rumors he had heard as a child.

'You guys are cursed by the devil,' a mocking voice played in his mind. 'Your souls are tainted… There is no way to save your brother…'

"Caleb!" Philip called out desperately now as he moved faster, walking farther from the mob, closer to the river. Thanks to the full moon, he could move between the trees with ease, avoid tripping on anything that was sticking out from the ground.

Eventually, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a voice near the riverbank. His hands gripped his weapon as his heart drummed against his chest.

He told himself he could do this… he had to find his brother…

Quietly, he followed where he heard the voice from and eventually spotted two figures by the river. He hid behind a thick tree before peeking out to spot the familiar blonde hair of his brothers, always tied in a low ponytail.

Philip's eyes widened when he saw, standing in front of his brother, was an old-looking man with a pointy hat. The man was smiling widely as he, from nothing, conjured a fireball to hover over his hand.

"I've told you days before, I am not here to harm anyone," the witch said calmly, his eyes glittering as he eyed Caleb whose pitchfork was pointing downwards, instead of taking a defensive pose. "Let me take you to my world, where it is full of magic. That's where you belong…"

Caleb seemed to be mesmerized by the fireball.

Philip yanked down his mask, feeling that his brother was in danger. He stepped out of his hiding place.

"Caleb?" Philip called out, with uncertainty, which snapped his older brother's attention to him, with some hesitation. "What are you doing?" the younger boy asked. Noticing how his brother was not fighting the witch made fear grasp his heart and his mind race with terror.

'He will be next,' the dark voice in Philip's head hissed. 'He will be taken away too..' Hatred ate him up at that second.

"Get away from my brother!" Philip snapped before pointing his weapon at the witch. "You're not taking him away as well!"

A young witch boy, Gus, standing far from the tree, was watching all the events unfold with uncertainty.

One moment, Gus could see Caleb's eyes filled with sadness and regret as his brother tried to 'save' him from the witch, and then the events jumbled up. Caleb was nowhere to be seen in the forest, Philip was crawling out from the river, shivering and cold, sobbing into the muddy ground.

Then the minister and Alexander were standing by him.

"They were right, he and his family are all cursed by the devil!" Gus could hear Alexander yell with disgust. "We should burn him before he attracts more witches to curse us all!"

Philip just curled up into himself, with the mask that his brother had made him clutched against his chest.

The minister had a stone look at him as he observed the broken boy.

"Or… we can make him into their worst nightmare…" the Minister said calmly, and right before Gus' eyes, the memory jumped from one of Philip's memories to another. One memory was with young Philip being lashed at with a whip, making him cry out words that sounded like a sort of prayer, making Gus' eyes wide in shock. The boy then saw a memory of Philip crying in a tiny dark room, curled up on the ground, telling himself it was his fault that his brother was taken away. Cursing himself for failing to kill the witch. Another was of young Philip being forced to whip a woman accused of being a witch. Even though Philip had tears in his eyes and was begging the minister that he didn't want to do it.

Gus was frozen on the spot, heart racing badly. He couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of him as young Philip continued to whip the back of the sobbing woman.

"Kill the witch!" Gus kept hearing through Philip's memories, many dark, disturbing moments. "Burn her!" Gus' face grew pale as an adult Philip was now standing in front of a crowd, with a calm smile, cold eyes resting on them as he held a stick that was lit on fire. Next to him, a woman was tied up against a wooden pole, crying. Surrounding her were countless sticks and leaves.

The minister was standing a few feet from Philip, hands behind his back, straight and stoic as always.

"No…" Gus felt his body grow cold when Philip turned to the woman, who cried out that she wasn't a witch, begging them to believe her.

"You cannot trick us any longer, witch," Philip said in a cold, calculated voice.

"Don't do it!" Gus now yelled out as he began sprinting to the crowd, but he was too late. Philip threw the stick he was holding to the mass surrounding the woman before the whole fire engulfed her fast.

Gus stopped dead in his tracks, eyes full blown wide, stricken with shock.

"No…" he let out weakly, in complete shock as he stared at the woman screeching in agony as her flesh burned and peeled while everyone else cheered.

"No!" Gus threw his hands over his eyes, now filled with tears, and screamed for everything to just stop, but more memories were playing around him, so many of them, too fast that he couldn't process them, overwhelming him. "Stop!" he screamed, falling to his knees.

"Gus!" a familiar voice yelled, making Gus' eyes snapped back open, finding himself crying into Camila's chest.

"Shh, it's okay, I got you," Camila said softly to him as her arms were tightly wrapped around his shaking body.

He was not inside Belo's memories anymore.

Luz was next to him, a hand on his shoulder with concern, while the other hand had taken the magic amplifier from Gus' tight hold.

A roar made Gus jump with fright and throw his arms over his face. Luz, Willow, and Amity stood up, glaring at Philip, who had woken up the second Gus was out of his memories. He yanked against his restraints more violently than ever before.

Philip had completely lost it.

Not one thought was crossing his mind, and all he did was rage like a savage animal. Blue eyes glowed more than usual as he finally tore free from all the restraints that were holding his arms together.

The device that had been latched on his chest was ripped off as well and thrown to the side.

Willow and Amity stepped forward with their staffs.

Willow's staff flashed green as she had green veins shoot out from the ground and try to wrap on to Philip, who had finally smashed through the cage the kids had made.

"Oh no," Luz let out in fear, but still jumped in front of her mother and Gus to protect them. She couldn't do anything without magic as Philip violently tore away from the veins that had dared to latch on his limbs.

Amity, from the purple ooze that had been on the metal bars, made a large size abomination, almost the same size as Philip. It landed a punch at Philip's head. Philip staggered but tackled the abomination and tore through it with his mouth.

Before Willow and Amity had a chance to act again to restrain Philip, he ran through the wall nearest to him and was out into the forest, leaving Luz and her friends behind in his battered childhood home.

Author's after note

And yeah, I will admit, i am kind of nervous writing this story since well, Philip is an total abuser jerk, but I guess that's what makes me want to write a story like this too... hahaha

So yeah, poor Gus, is traumatized form what he had seen.. hahaha... and of course we will dive into more of Philip's memories more, at least, my version of what made him become who he is. But, the next chapter won't be so much of memories, but more of the story moving forward a bit : ).

We gonna see some...angst and drama~

Please let me know if you guys are enjoying it. I'm hoping not to lose motivation writing this up when the new actual content gets released, hahaha...