I stood in front of them. "This is what you want, no?"
"How brave of you, lady. I bet you've accomplished what you need in my spellbook, so no, I came here for something better," he said, jingling my high heels hanging on his fingers. "To claim you other than the spellbook."
I sighed hard. "If you want to play death with me, job well done! You're already killing me in cringe!" I throw his spellbook at him and he catches it. "Let Andrew go!" I demanded. Ruth and the maids have been weeping for him.
"I'm sorry, granny... They f-forced me to reveal your whereabouts... and this h-house. I'll make sure to... to fire them!" Andrew confesses. Then Afvshaganifs presses the gun on his head. Ruth's scream is even louder and furious. But it changed nothing to save Andrew as Afvshaganifs triggers his gun and murdered Andrew instantly! The pirates surrounding the surrendered maids including Manjiro murdered them all by ax! I was ready to blast an enchantment against them when their captain tossed his ax necklace at me and it shifted into a real ax!
In a blink of an eye, I met my demise.
☪ ✧ ✧
I found myself laid down on the couch, my elbows bound in tight rope behind me. It's quiet. Only the fire in the furnace speaks. I pulled myself up and figured out that my dress is drenched with blood.
"You just lost your head a while ago, lady," that whisper to my ear creeps me and I move from him, the captain. He's leaning his elbows on the recliner, smirking at me. The second I attempted to look behind, he hampered my jaw to keep me facing ahead. "Don't look back if you don't want to see the corpses of your friends," he forewarns.
I speak in solemn grudge, "What have you done?"
He walks around the couch, "I turned the table. You're now in the situation where you put me in. I regret lying down with you. And now you'll regret the scheme and shame you've made. But of course, I won't be cruel to a lady," he said, and kneels in front of me. He's been holding the high heels I used against him, then he wears the right pair to my foot like an ostentatious gentleman. "You said only a compelled woman will hit on me. I shall feed those words to you. There's no need to compel a woman, but to align their preference with mine will suffice."
I observe the high heels carefully and why is he doing this. My spellbook is locked to summon my enchantment. But because I'm a veteran, "This trick won't work on me," I said. Then I tread my right foot on his chest and push him. "You're trying to hypnotize me with these heels!? If you madly want to steal me from my mate, then learn to be like him! So your only problem is... you can never be like him!"
I was frozen when someone from behind pointed an ax at my throat! Afvshaganifs fixes himself again and grabs a tight hold on my ankles when I attempt to kick him. "The more you resist, the more I've come to like you, lady. Did you know the story of a poor maid persecuted by her stepmother? The prince wore the missing pair to the maid and when it fits, they live happily ever after," he gabs further. Now he's wearing the left pair on my foot! And then what? We will live happily ever after in his fishy ship!?
In case of a dire emergency like this, I summon my sleeping half. My fangs stretch, my vision becomes sharp, and my body feels lighter. I tossed the heels upward and socked Afvshaganifs' face, however, the pirate behind me didn't think twice about slitting my throat! "THAT HURTS!!" I wanted to scream! I hop on the couch, bite his ax, it shattered with my teeth, and I sock his face too. And I accidentally saw the situation of my friends:
their bodies are lying down on the floor, all were decapitated. The blood on the floor shivers me to the bone. All of the captain's pirates are holding their guns and axes, without further ado, they all fired at me! The burning heat of my body reduces to numbness. I fell from the couch but their captain caught me from behind, holding my waist and my right wrist, and whispered to my ear, "We can treat you better than this. Be my wife."
Blood is gushing out my mouth. With all the physical strength left in my werewolf side, I jump and the rug slides away which carries off the captain and the seat to the wall by my power. Walking backward slowly, I shield myself behind an enchast while the pirates are shooting at me. "Captain! This is impossible! How can she use enchantment!?" one of the pirates yells.
"You did a great ambush on my house," I pant.
"And how can she still speak!?"
I stretch my arms. "But you made one big mistake... You are in my house!" And then I freely throw myself into the furnace.
Screeching. Enraging. Burning! Silence and confusion dominate the atmosphere. I crawl out of the furnace, and stand up slowly while cracking my fingers and neck abnormally—out of my control, and having the fire on me. Then in a blow of the wind, my fire died and every single light of the house blacked out—making it more haunted. With my commanding gesture, the doors rumbled, and my whisper sounded in every ear,
"Do... Lu... Back... Don't... Look..." And I found the victim with perfect fear. Infiltrating his mind, I whispered, "Look at me..." This man felt me from behind. His neck is stiff when he looks back... and eventually finds my decayed face. He shouts in fear shortly until I break his neck and die.
The pirates panic while unsure where to aim. But in this state, I'm in the air and in their mind. The doors are still rumbling and the pendulum is ticking loudly along with my screaming laughter echoing throughout the house.
“Haha… Hahahaha! Aaaahahaha!” I possessed another fearful man, then he randomly swung his ax while laughing with me. When he's killed, I possess another victim and shoots at them randomly.
They ended up killing each other. Into the dark, I manipulate their minds by seeing decayed hands dragging them into the ground. Terror is all over their faces. They saw me walking toward them and they began running away with their shaking knees. The house was emptied of pirates instantly except for one mouse. My fingers and neck are cracking again. My hair is a bloody mess. The fire on my body lit up once more after a burst of laughter that irritated my ears.
"Marvelous…!" Afvshaganifs praises—who's obviously unafraid of death. His smile is with him whenever gore is around him. "One of the forbidden spells... the caster transfigured herself into a bloody witch. I couldn't be more impressed and attracted to yo— Uh!?" He gropes for his tongue but it's gone.
"Bring... Them... Bring... Back..." I hasten my pace toward him while he's stepping backward. My house is making noises in response to my anger. "BRING THEM BAAAACK!!" My scream sounded in multiple tones which brought his knees to the floor and I grip his throat.
He couldn't badge my flaming hand, so he shifts his ax necklace into a real one and swings it to my waist. But as the ax touched my skin, it turned into ashes. He's pale and quivering, that's how he finds out the slit of an ax on his waist to his abdomen. I was hurled by his enchast, then he's trying to collapse my house and again, everything inside is making noise; cries or whispers of phantoms are coming from the rooms—as reactions.
My fingers are cracking when I lift up my hand—still laying on the ground. He was pacified and moved again according to the control of my fingers. I stood up, cracking my neck and jaw, and controlled him with my 10 fingers while all he could do was yell. I made him manifest his spellbook and perform the enchantment to revive every dead person. Their bodies started to move and attached their head to their neck before they snapped into conscience.
All of them were frightened when they saw me. Back to my business with Afvshaganifs, I play my stiff fingers to twist his bones and flesh. He's screaming for mercy but the answer he gained from me is "You've been hampering my way back to my mate. So I shall kill you!" My words were genuine but he took it sarcastically by laughing again! A thought flashed into my mind and as a response, I freed him from my strings. While he's groveling in front of me, I said,
"Oh, I know your trick. The life of your murderer in exchange for your resurrection." My shoulders fell because I can't get rid of this nuisance. My palm is layered with an enchast when I slapped him into his unconsciousness.
There's a brief silence afterward. The fire in the furnace lit up and the lights of the whole house brightened the visions again. The revived pirates were arrested by the guards.
"Granny!" Andrew came rushing for a hug and it melted my heart. "I'm sorry! I took them here..."
I embrace him back while caressing his hair. "You did what's best. Good wolf," I consoled. His, and all of our clothes are bloody. My appearance is back but my body feels the same, my neck is painful. This forbidden spell breaks bones but is worth it. I bind Afvshaganifs with an enchast after I cured his wounds. Perhaps I'll just make him useful. We've got a lot to talk about.