Any Witch Way (10 page)

More bursts and crackles of light appeared above her head for a second before fizzing away just like the last two times.

“You’ve been weird your whole life, and now you find out you’re a witch. So you’re even weirder. An abomination. Oh, you’ll never be normal now, Sadie; all your chances for that went out the door that night at the bookstore.” The man laughed again, a full, deep evil laugh that came from thinking he was superior. How well she knew that laugh from the cruel kids at school who used to make fun of her!

Sadie tried not to cry, but his words hurt. Her whole life she had tried to fit in. She had been tormented, teased, bullied, and ignored, and now, even though she was a witchling, it was no different.

What good is this new life then?

“I don’t care what you say. I don’t care what you think of me,” said a saddened Sadie, trying to sound defiant.

“Oh, yes, you do. It’s been your life’s problem—bullied at school, teased by the other children, foster families passing you around like a Christmas fruit cake. And all because you had that little episode where you, what do you kids call it, freaked out, in front of the whole class. You remember that, Sadie. You told everyone your mother was still alive—that you knew it. What a stupid and crazy girl! No wonder all the kids shunned you after that. Didn’t your foster family make you see a shrink after that? Didn’t you go around town telling everyone your mom was still alive and coming back for you? Now that I think of it, did your mom even want you?”

A tremendous explosion rang out above Sadie’s head. She had conveniently forgotten about that little disaster in front of her whole science class. The snap and pop of the light burst had lingered a little longer than the others, giving Sadie some hope at magik working. But it was just as useless as before because the magik fizzled out like a spent sparkler. The man laughed once again. Then, he lowered his voice and spoke once more.

“I see I’ve found your weak spot. That’s good; I’ll just think on it and figure out how to use it to my advantage. For now, here’s something for you to think about. I was the one who killed your mom; it wasn’t a fiery car crash into the river like you were led to believe. And I enjoyed it as well.”

In a huge burst of red light, sparkles, pops, crackles, and fizzles, Sadie sprang forward a bit—as forward as the chains would allow before yanking her back to her three foot radius she was given. The man began laughing, and his laughter faded into the distance as he disappeared further into the dark.  

When his footsteps could no longer be heard, Sadie began to cry. It was a deep, belly-hurting cry that came from her very soul. With each shudder and wave of tears, sparks and crackles popped and fizzled overhead. Her entire body heaved with sob after sob and her shirt became wet with all the tears. She missed her mother, she missed being at the bookstore before all of these strange events had happened, she missed having tea with Mrs. Felis (when she was a human), and she definitely missed being normal.

Wow, I guess I’m normal compared to what I’ve seen and know now. I just wish I had appreciated it before all of this.

She smiled to herself.

If only I had…but she didn’t have time to finish her thought because an imp about the size of a Jack Russell Terrier came into view. I must not have heard him ‘cause of my bawling.

The imp walked right up to Sadie, right through the cell bars and stared directly into her eyes with its own beady black ones. Some of the wax from the candle it held dripped onto her cheek, but she dared not flinch.

They’ll not see my fear, the disgusting things.  

It was so close Sadie could smell its foul breath and see festering boils on its bald scalp. She also noticed that a piece of its pointy, dirty ear was missing on the right side, and on its left was a zigzag scar across its belly.

What do these things do that they get so…beaten up?

It held a Mason jar in one hand and in the other was a tube about two feet long. On one end of the tube was what looked like some sort of suction device and on the other end, an open hole. Two more imps came forward from the darkness and each carrying the same instruments. They approached Sadie as the first imp blew powder in her face.

“What did you do that for?” asked one of the imps.

“‘Because she can see us, you stupid twit; she’ll fight,” the first one replied.

“It’s so much easier on regular humans,” said the third imp in.

“Yes, but hers will bring such a good price,” said the first imp and the three started laughing in tiny dark chuckles.

Sadie realized the powder the first imp blew on her was that same paralyzing powder David had used. She was getting tired of this happening to her and made a promise to herself that if she got free, she would do her best to come up with an anti-paralyzing powder that prevented that one from working. Reality set in again as the imps moved forward, and she watched in horror as the first imp approached her even closer than the others. 

He stuck the suction-looking end on to her index finger. He then stuck the open end into the little bottle he held. He went back to the end with the suction cup and touched a button on the top of it. Sadie didn’t feel anything, but when he did this, she began to see a purple spiraling smoke fill the little jar. The other two imps had begun doing the same to her other hand and to her arm.

All three jars were filling rapidly with the purple smoke, and Sadie began to feel more and more tired as the jars filled. Eventually, she would have yawned, she thought, if she could have moved. When the jars were filled to the brim, each imp stuck a lid on them, pulled the tubes off of Sadie and walked away in silence. The scarred one stuck the candle in a chink in the wall before walking away into the darkness of the chamber.

Sadie, still mostly paralyzed, was beginning to regain control over her body, but it didn’t matter at this point. She wanted to move out of the way of the cold trickle of water running down the stones of the wall behind her, but she was just too tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. With her arms chained, she scooted a tiny bit back so that she could put the backpack between herself and the wall. Then, Sadie did something she had never done before. She fell asleep sitting up.  

Though just before she drifted off, Sadie could have sworn she saw a large, dark, cloaked figure carrying a sickle, floating down the hallway away from her cell. And when this figure came into view, all the air seemed to be sucked out of the room.  

Sadie woke to the sound of snoring. It got louder and louder in her ears, so loud in fact that she opened her eyes even though she wanted to keep on sleeping. She sluggishly readied herself to give someone a piece of her mind.

“Will you please be quiet?” she demanded more than asked, as she rolled over to see the cause of the noise.  

Four more candles were stuck in the crevice where the imp had left his, though only one was burning. The others were reduced to waxy stubs with spent wicks. In the flickering light of the single flame, Sadie saw a small figure. Elgarbam. He lay chained like she was, but a few feet away.

When Sadie realized to whom she was yelling, she softened almost immediately. She had been very worried about Elgarbam and Whistle; at least, she thought she was. She couldn’t really remember exactly what happened or for that matter, what she was thinking. 

“Elgarbam! Wake up, how did you get here? Where’s Whistle? What time is it? We got to….” She was interrupted by the gnome.

“Quiet, please! My head hurts immensely!” shouted the disgruntled gnome as he struggled to sit up.

Sadie looked at the grumpy little guy. He was tattered and torn. Scratches down his cheeks led to the rips in his clothes, giving him a beat-up garden gnome appearance. He had bruises on his face, as well, and looked the worse for wear. She took all this in, with heaviness in her heart, and gave him a moment before the barrage of questions began again.

“How did you get here? What time is it? Where’s Whistle?” Her questions were more like an assault than a query.

And even though she had tried to be gentler, their situation demanded urgency so she tried to sound serious.

“I don’t think shouting is necessary. As a matter of fact, another three more days of sleep wouldn’t matter much at this point, and it would probably get rid of my headache,” Elgarbam said as he pulled his cap down over his eyes and tried to go back to dozing.

“NO!” shouted Sadie. “You MUST wake up and talk to me! Wait, what did you say, three more days? What does that mean?”

The very tired and more than a bit rumpled gnome slid his hat up and out of his eyes while he straightened his little spine to sit flat against the cold stone wall. He eyed Sadie while she sat, somewhat agitated and anxious, and let out a sigh. He rubbed his stubby little fingers through his long grey beard and seemed as though he were considering something. Then a loud grumbling, gurgling noise interrupted the silence.

“Sorry. I’m a bit hungry,” said Sadie.

“It’s okay, witchling. So am I. You’ve been asleep for three days; I’m sure you’re much worse off than I,” he replied in a subdued voice.

Sadie looked shocked. Slowly, it was all coming back to her. “When I get out of here, I’m going to put a curse on each and every one of them, especially those nasty little imps with the suction cups and bottles,” she said as she held her rumbling belly.

It was Elgarbam’s turn to look shocked. “What do you mean ‘imps with bottles?’ In here? Where?” He seemed a bit disturbed and began looking around their dark, dank dungeon of a room.

“It was before you were here; I’m sure they’re long gone,” Sadie tried to comfort the gnome. She went on to tell him her ordeal of the suction cup tubes and jars filling with purple smoke. When she had finished, he was rubbing his beard once more.

“So that’s how they do it,” was all he said as he stroked his beard. Then, he continued, “I really thought they only did it to humans, but I’ll bet yours will fetch a nice sum. Not to mention, I’m sure you’re much more potent than any regular human. Being as you’re a witchling and all.”

“Do what? My what? What are they doing?”

“Stealing energy.”

It was now Sadie’s turn to look perplexed. She sat back along the wall, making sure not to sit in the stream of water, for the trickle had become a heavy flow now, and she took a huge, deep breath.

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. You’re going to have to explain this to me as well,” she said. And I thought human life was complicated.

“Remember when you were all human how you would sometimes feel very tired, and it was only, say, the middle of the day? Well, what most likely happened is this: the imps stole your energy. You see, they steal it, bottle it, and then sell it on the black market back in the magikal realm. They do it all the time. Human energy, to a magikal being, is quite, well, quite a high.

“But, just like other drugs, it comes with a lofty price to pay for partaking, and I’m not just talking a gold coin price. I’m sure you’ll see what I mean soon enough when—if we can get out of here and you meet some of those addicted to the stuff. I’ve never heard of their zapping the energy of a witchling, but they’ve probably never had the opportunity before. I’ll bet there are magikal creatures already strung out on you and just begging for more.”

“Ew. That’s creepy, Elgarbam. It’s almost like, well, I don’t know, I just know it’s creepy. I guess I should be glad they’re not drinking my blood or anything,” said Sadie with a shiver.

Elgarbam just looked at her.

“What? They do that too?” Sadie asked.

“Not the imps,” Elgarbam replied matter-of-factly. “You haven’t met any of the vampires or werewolves yet, have you? Well, let’s just hope your first meeting is with the ones on our side.” 

The little battle-worn gnome crossed his arms and tried to roll over and away, his chains interrupting the process.

Sadie rattled her own chains. “I’m not liking this, Elgarbam. You never told me where Whistle is, and I want to know why.”

The gnome looked sad. This made Sadie stop talking.

Something must have happened to Whistle. 

Elgarbam wiped a single tear from his cheek and sat in silence.

“When I get out of here, I’m going to curse whoever did this to us and to whoever did whatever to Whistle,” she said through clenched teeth as little sparkles of light popped above her head.

Though she had only met the two little guys a few days ago, she had grown quite fond of them.

“Well, I’ll tell ya what’s wrong with all that,” he replied. “You can’t curse anyone. Only Gypsies can curse objects and people. That’s why they’re always on the move. In life, both human and magikal, everything you do comes back to you and usually threefold. If you do something good, then good things will come to you. If you do something bad, bad things will come to you. You see how it works? So, the Gypsies have to keep moving so the curses can’t catch up with them. It usually takes about three months for a curse they brought into play to find them. So they can stick around that long, but not much longer. That’s why they’re always on the move.”

“So why don’t they just not curse anyone or anything anymore? Seems simple enough,” said Sadie.

“That’d be like asking a Stinking Slather Bug not to stink or asking a mosquito not to bite. It’s in their nature; it’s what they do. Doesn’t make them bad. It’s their job in life. Oh, there are bad gypsies just as there are bad humans and bad magikal beings, but just because it’s in their nature to do something, doesn’t make them inherently bad. There are good gypsies, too. Kinda like snakes. Not many like them and most think of them as evil, but they have a purpose in life—everything does.”

Sadie thought about this for a moment before speaking again.

I’ve got so much to learn.

“So where’s Whistle?”

The little gnome took off his hat, exposing a full head of grey puffy hair growing in all directions, most unlike Whistle’s little bald head. He lowered his face to the ground before speaking.

“I’m afraid he didn’t make it; he couldn’t have made it,” said Elgarbam in a quiet voice. “Last I heard the poor wee man, he was screaming bloody murder as they were branding him with hot irons, trying to get information. I’m sure I’m next.”

Sadie didn’t know what to say. She felt that familiar knot in her stomach and throat, the same knot that tied her up when her mom had died. She twisted her hair around a finger and thought for a moment.  

My captors must be the most vicious men on the planet to torture a poor little creature like Whistle. And all because he’s different than they or because they want information. Maybe it’s just ‘cause he was good and they are bad. It happens in the human world. Why wouldn’t it happen in the magikal one as well? I wonder if I can run for government in the Society so I can try to change things. No, no one would listen to me there, just like they didn’t in the human world. 

Sadie thought to herself a bit more until her stomach growled so loudly it seemed to echo through the darkened room.

“It looks like some things have fallen out of your bag. Do you think we could somehow use your magikal objects to get out of here?”

Sadie wiggled in her chains just enough to see exactly what had come out of her bag. The string keeping her bag closed had come untied and sure enough, one of the items had fallen out. Sadie was able to grab a small wrapped parcel that she hadn’t seen before.

Written on the outside of the wrapping in bold, black lettering: To Die for Chocolate Cake. Her mouth began to water and her stomach growled louder. She quickly ripped the wrapping from the cake and flung it aside, hitting Elgarbam in the face in the process. Elgarbam pulled the paper away with a grunt as Sadie looked like a dog with a bone. Just as she was about to shove half of the chocolate cake in her mouth, the gnome screamed.

“STOP!”

Sadie, a bit put off by this, turned to look at Elgarbam with what she thought to be an intimidating stare.

“What? I was going to share,” she said icily.

“I don’t want any of that and neither should you.”

“What, gnomes don’t like chocolate?”

“We love chocolate when it won’t kill you.”

Sadie was confused and, looking at the cake, even more hungrily.

“What do you mean 'when it won’t kill you?' You’re just trying to get all of the cake for yourself when I throw it down. You’re trying to trick me out of my cake. I can’t trust anyone around here! I already told you I’ll give you half.” And with that she raised the cake to her mouth, opened wide, and was in the midst of taking a giant bite.

“SADIE, STOP!” she heard Elgarbam say and in unison, like it was in stereo, she heard her mother’s voice, as well. She stopped and looked around.

It was like she was right next to me.  

Bits of cake crumbled from her shaking hand as she peered into the darkness around her.

I swear she’s here; it was like she spoke into my ear.

Turning to face Elgarbam, she looked for any signs of recognition.

“Did you hear that?” Sadie asked the gnome.

“I heard nothing but your gluttonous ramblings,” said Elgarbam. “But like I was saying, you don’t want to eat that. There’s a reason it’s called To Die for Chocolate Cake. Think about it.”

Sadie sat the cake down on the cold wet floor and slowly, reluctantly, pushed it away from her.  

Why would they give me something that could kill me?

She looked at Elgarbam who was trying to keep the steady stream of water away from his little leather booties. Using her foot, she pushed the cake to the edge of the darkness. No sooner than she had drawn her leg back up to her chest than two beady-eyed, fat black rats ran to devour the cake. Within seconds of their first bite, they both fell over dead.

“Wow, works quickly. I’m glad you stopped me,” said Sadie.

“I don’t understand why they would give you something as dangerous as that and not explain it to you,” Elgarbam replied.

“I was thinking the same thing myself.”

The pair of captives sat in relative silence and watched as two bigger rats dragged off their recently deceased companions. Sadie didn’t want to think about what they were going to do with them; she knew rats didn’t have funerals. Her stomach growled even louder, and she tried to think of something other than food. She wondered how long they would have to be there before she and Elgarbam started eating rats. In the end she figured she didn’t want to know or find out.  

As she sat, a strange tingling began to filter through her body. She looked over to Elgarbam who was very busy trying to look uninterested in her and their situation. The tingling traveled from her toes, up her legs, and into her belly. It then moved the rest of the way up and through her body. When it reached her head, it was accompanied by a ringing in her ears. Sadie wondered if some of that wretched chocolate cake had actually gotten into her mouth. She began to wipe the inside of her mouth with her sleeve.

Is this what it feels like to die from magik cake?

She looked over at Elgarbam once more to see if maybe, just maybe, he was feeling this strange tingling, too. The gnome had pulled his hat down over his eyes and seemed to be sleeping again.

In an instant, the tingling grew more intense, and Sadie felt as though she were being pulled apart at the seams. It felt as though ever molecule was going in a different direction and that she needed to hold on to something. She grabbed for the chains holding her captive, and her hands went straight through them.

Did I die? Am I now a ghost?

Sadie grabbed frantically at the wall behind her; once again her hands swiped air like the wall wasn’t even there. That all too familiar panic set in as Sadie tried to understand what was happening to her. She looked over at Elgarbam and shouted his name, but her voice sounded hollow, almost distant.

I am a ghost!

She shouted at Elgarbam again. He rolled over with his back facing her, oblivious to her yelling. As the anxiety settled in the pit of her stomach, her vision started to blur. Then, with a whooshing noise in her ears, she felt as though she was being ripped apart at the seams and her vision was a smear of colors.

*  *  *

“For Gur?”

Sadie tried to focus, tried to gain control over her faculties.

What just happened to me?

“For Gur?”

She heard someone or something speak, but she still wasn’t quite sure what had just happened to her. All she did know was that it wasn’t Elgarbam’s voice she was hearing.