The Witch And The Cursed Child- Part IV

Leora:

Unlike the way the ride had started, the rest of it wasn’t silent at all, Ray kept on asking me endless questions which I have avoided most, especially those that were related to my mate and his pack, even when he had just promised me his help, I still couldn’t trust him fully, mostly because I didn’t know his reasons.

Surely, he had explained them, how the pack wasn’t the same after what happened, how Axel wasn’t the same, my heart slightly ached as I heard about my old friend, barely being a ghost of the man he used to be, and then guilt washed over me for feeling that way for it felt like a betrayal to the man with golden orbs who is probably looking for me, I push that thought aside as I play our conversation back in my head, trying to point out the details I have missed.

“Can I ask you one thing?” I shift uncomfortably in my seat as we near the outskirts of the middle zone, sure enough, his help had made me reach my destination a lot faster than I had anticipated, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t trap, after all, he one one of the enemies, and even when he took no part in tormenting me, he still stood there and did nothing, surely, he didn’t simply have a change of heart out of guilt after all this time.

“Sure thing..” He says while taking the longer road, but before I could question him on it he answers me, “The main one is crowded with our warriors, making their way to the northern border, there is no one in hell none of them would recognize or at least suspect you, and I have a feeling that Axel has ordered them to keep a close eye on my actions.”

“Why?” I notice how his eyes avoid mine as if afraid to let me see his true feelings, but after a moment of contemplation, he looks at me, his face set on hard lines.

“Because I didn’t approve of the way they interrogated the prisoner, I stood up against him, and that witch he is so blinded with, it wasn’t right!”

“But it was, she is your enemy after all!” the words slip my lips before I could stop them, and even where nothing terrorizes me than the thought of my sweet Mila subjected to the atrocious torture, I can’t help but feel a bit confused with the way this one is behaving, she is a stranger to him, while Axel is his best friend, they knew each other all their lives, and before, I believed that his loyalty was absolute, to his Alpha and his pack, but now? I am not so sure.

“She just…looks too innocent and frail to be put in a cell and subjected to that kind of treatment.” He whispers under his breath and my eyebrows shoot up to touch my hair line, however, I decide against asking more about the matter, something telling me that he is having trouble admitting things to even himself.

“Anyway, back to you, what were you going to ask?” clearing his throat, Ray asks sharply, his voice cold and slightly angry, I don’t hold it against him though for the poor thing looks lost.

“What do you know about Ciana?” my question startled him, he looked at me with calculative eyes for a few seconds before sighing, probably seeing it in my eyes that I was no longer obsessed with tarnishing the image of the girl who stole the man I wanted, wanted, tin the past, not anymore.

“At first, I thought the same thing as everyone, I was happy for my friend and the fact that he found his mate, a strong witch with a heart of gold to nurture and fix his heart, it sure looked like a fairy tale, one that we all enjoyed watching except for you, but then, I started noticing what no one else did, like how she never investigated the matter of the dead girl like she was supposed to do, or how she avoided all conversations about her and her sisters, and even Axel noticed that to be honest but he had his ass so up in the clouds to pester it for she knew how to manipulate him, making him think that she was caring for him while in reality, she was focusing on him so he wouldn’t focus on her.”

“That is because she is not what she appears to be, she is over two centuries old, Ray.” I tell him with a shrug, not missing the way his shoulders stiffened, he knows that the older the witch is the stronger she gets, which makes it clear now that I had no way of attacking and injuring her on my own.

“Well, that makes sense now for she always seamed too mature sometimes, I am not familiar with witches but she didn’t exactly fit the role of a young witch who is barely learning how to use her magic, and she was cunning, others didn’t notice it but I, who always stood in the back and observed, did notice it, it unsettled something within me even when I couldn’t point it out, and then, there was her obsession with you and taking everything you were and did to herself, claiming it, your duties, your projects, as if she wished to erase you, I couldn’t understand why, I mean, she already got it all, the man, the status, the love and respect, I knew there was something fishy about her, and then, you disappeared, our hunters were murdered and the existence of the reaper was revealed, and then the death of Carmen, Axel grew weaker, not his body but his mind, he was making all the wrong decisions and refused to listen to anyone but his mate, I think because he was afraid to see for himself, that even after he lost everything because of her, she wasn’t worth the sacrifice.”

“But, this will make you a traitor, you know this!” I warn him one last time, I don’t believe he is a bad guy, a little gloomy and moody, yes, but not a bad person, and I know what happens to traitors, I have experienced it first hand.

“It is treason, yes, and I am well aware of what might happen to me, but it is the right thing nevertheless, and I am sick of being a spectator while everything rots around me, besides, I do to have someone I wish to save and protect…” he spoke the last part mostly to himself, and I didn’t pay much attention to it as my mind was elsewhere.

The instruction company building, where Mr. Bells office is located, my heart races and tears prick the back of my eyes as I think of seeing his face once more, and not his bony face, I swallowed the bubbled up emotions and I barely stop myself from hyperventilating, Goddess, I can actually save him!

“Okay, so you warn your friend, and I will go and try to knock some sense in my friend’s head, hopefully we will be both successful, if that happens, then meet me again at midnight in the parking lot, and we will discuss our next move, if not…”Ray looks at me with utmost seriousness, one that leaves no room for discussions, “Just know this, even when I am helping you, the Silvermoon remains my home and my pack, and my loyalty will always be to it, if a war broke, I will fight for my people against yours, and once again, we will be enemies.”

“We better make it work then!” I tell him with a soft smile before bedding him goodbye, charged with all of my gratitude, not just for helping me but for being brave enough to do the right thing even when it goes against everything he believes in, not wasting any time, I make my way to the back of the building, avoiding the cameras, a strange sense of nostalgia washes over me as I enter the building using the fire exit, I have spent so much time, effort, ideas, and energy in this place, I knew it like the back of my hand, avoiding all eyes, I make my way silently to the storage room, noticing how there are barely any workers in the building, once I am there, I shed the clothes I am in and hide them under a desk with a promise of returning them to Jess, the jacket does look expensive after all.

Finding a spare janitor uniform, I put it on quickly, luckily it is my size, funny thing, I made both male and females janitors wear the same uniforms because I hated how women always found themselves cleaning in short skirts and tight shirts, and surprisingly, it all came back in my favor after all this time.

Checking my reflexion in the glass doors, I give myself an approving nod before heading out of the storage room, I avoid the elevator as I know there are cameras there and head to the stairs, aiming at Mr. Bells office, trying to organize my thoughts and what to tell him, that the witches are going to kill them with the help of the Silvermoon wolves? Forget about this being a little unbelievable, what I am worried about is his reaction, and even with a positive one, how will I be able to find all the other victims and warn them too?

I stop for a minute, taking a few deep breaths for rest, God, these stairs are endless, or maybe it is the exhaustion, after all, I have been trapped in that tunnel for a month, it may have felt like a day to me but it was a month in the real world, I wonder if it is my abilities, I think as I recall my conversation with Tynan, the one that happened right after I learned about his reality and he had explained to me how I have disappeared as if I have moved to a parallel universe, I wonder if the same happened or if the tunnel is just magical or something.

That can wait, I tell myself as I push my legs through the damn never ending stairs, right now I have to worry about the humans and how to find, convince, and save them, the wolves and the witches won’t be happy with it, I know, and they would probably pull some dirty trick, my head throbs with all the thoughts and possibilities which forces me to push them all aside and just focus on my current task, find and warn Mr. Bells, and from there I will decide what to do, maybe he has a mean to help me, whatever it is, it is better if I kept the thought of later to when is actually later.

With a curse and an exasperated groan, I mount another step, why aren’t they ending, I ask myself annoyed, and then I ask my self the same question, this time perplexed, only for the sirens in my head to go off like a mad banshee, I stare around me as the hair in my nape stands and my muscles stiffen before I bolt in the opposite direction, descending the damn stairs as if a monster was at my back, and the truth is, there might is one.

The stairs were never supposed to be this much, it is a five stories building not a fucking skyscraper, something I didn’t notice for I have been too engrossed in my thoughts and my worries, big fucking mistake! but now I feel it, as the staircase stretches as if keeps going to the bottom of hell, the walls seem to come closer, the ceiling only an arm away as the solid floor under my feet becomes wobbly, and I stop abruptly as the sirens gets louder, looking all around me to find a way out but this is not the tunnel, there is no bodies for me to read into their memories nor there is a way for me to dig my way out of this.

This…I know what it is, I have felt it before, this feeling of eeriness and absolute inescapable danger, this is magic, I have no way out.

Fuck!

I am stuck!

“Hey, Leora…” my eyes freeze as the feminine voice breathes against my air, every single hair in my body stands as if I have been just shocked with a live wire, my heart skips a beat as my mind clouds with not just fear but blind red rage, not wasting a second, I spin on one foot just like Bree taught me, flexing the muscles of my back and putting all the strength I have in my arm, my fist collides with a jaw even before my eyes get to see the face of the bitch, not that I didn’t recognize her.

Staggering a few steps back, Ciana cups her cheek and groans in pain, but I am not done, I think as I lunch forward at her, my hand reaching for my back pocket where I have kept the screwdriver I found in the storage room earlier, just in case.

Colliding with her body, the two of us fall on the stairs and I ignore the pain as I raise my hand in the air, ready to stab the life out of the bitch who harmed and is going to kill the people I care for, but right when the tip of the screwdriver was a centimeter away from her eye, my arm freezes, I see her green eyes changing color to clearer shade, her lips working on some kind of spell I couldn’t comprehend, the excruciating burn in my arm forces me to let go of the screwdriver, I groan as I lift my head only to bring it down on her forehead with all my might, every nerve in my body wiring me to fight the bitch I hate more than anyone or die trying, she gasps as blood rushes out of her mouth, bleed bitch, I think as I try to stand up, my good hand reaching for the screwdriver as I am still adamant on planting it deep in the cunt’s heart, but before I could do that, my body is torn away from hers and thrown against the wall, at first I thought it was another enemy, but as I looked around me, I realized we are alone, and somehow, the situation is worse like this.

“Impressive!” she says over my body before lifting it in air with her magic, I gasp as I feel her invisible ropes tightening around me and knocking the air out of my lungs, all attempts to break free turning futile.

“But it is not enough.” she resumes as she brings my body closer to hers, I trash in the grip of her magic only for it to enclose more, nearly breaking my ribs, I look at her, her face bloodied and so stoically expressionless, her eyes cold and her lips set on a thin line, just like the rest of her face, the only thing moving in her entire system is her fingers wielding the magic around me, no sign of the smiling and sweet girl she pretended to be, this is the real her.

“How?” I manage to breathe out, feeling the ropes tightening around my neck as back dots dance in front of me, fuck! I am losing this battle!

“I have been waiting for you, of course, my mother did warn us about the relationship you had with the fat human and it only took a little thinking guess that this is the first place you would show up in, trying to save him, but I must say, it did take you some time, I have been waiting here for a while, and now…” I curse myself for not being more cautious with the other bitch, Camila, and the suspicions I had of her, now those theories about her being able to communicate with her sisters is confirmed, only that it happened a little too late.

“Now, it is time for both of us to go home!”