The Vampire's Witch

Landing into Death

Star shifted in the uncomfortable airplane chair waiting for the announcement over the speaker to let everyone on the plane know it was finally safe to begin the un-boarding process. She was nervous, they had been waiting for close to 4 hours to un-board the plane now and that didn't bode well for anyone.

The control tower was non-responsive the entire time they were landing the plane, so the plane had landed blindly hoping for enough empty space to accommodate the massive structure. Star felt it deep within herself as she tried to reach out with her magic, something was wrong with her home; well more wrong than usual.

Growing up with demon hunter parents she had seen some crazy things growing up that most ordinary folks wouldn't understand. Things were about to get even crazier in her world, she didn't feel the normal hum and vibration that the earth itself normally gave off, she tried to attribute it to being above the land on a plane, but the deeper she sent her magic the strangers it felt. Twisting and dark, not the normal darkness she was used too.

The Captain came out and announced that they were going to be leaving the plane by the emergency exit, they inflated the slide quickly and everyone exited safely. It was quiet, way to quite for the normal vibrancy and controlled chaos of normal airport. The occupants' of the aircraft made their way into the terminal, the sight that greeted them was an unusual one. It was quite, luggage scattered here and there; a smear of blood on the wall, a dropped doll.

Star looked for her friends or any signs of them hoping against hope that they were there. She saw nothing, stepping past the anxious-looking group. She headed towards the stairs, pushing her red hair out of her way determined to get outside and see if things were the same when she saw a body. Not really just one body but several, a flight attendant rushed passed her. Her blonde hair still in a neat bun and her uniform unrumpled. She reached down to check on the person when the silence that had enveloped the group upon entering the terminal was broken with a scream.

She tried to turn the body of a woman over when suddenly the body that had previously been in the floor lying dormant lunged at her ripping into the young woman's neck staining her crisp uniform. The captain ran forward trying to help his co-worker frantically yelling for help, which didn't really help the situation they were currently in.

The sound of running pushed Star into action, she held up her hands and yelled "Gelida" and everything stopped. The things running at her didn't feel right. Their auras felt dead and dark. Gone, nothing to animating them, no soul. Everything was frozen around her and the redhead knew that what she was dealing with was something new to her entirely.

Zombies, they were the work of fiction, but then again so were witches and yet her she was. She had read about them in her Uncle's book shop, but couldn't remember much about them besides the movies she had seen.

She pushed the captain away from his coworker, getting him clear of any danger he might be in. She knew she wouldn't be able to help the flight attendant and left her to her fate. Stepping back for the moment she released her magic with a swish of her hand and the tendril of magic dissipated.

***

Her walk home wasn't much different from the scene at the airport, trying to avoid those things and helping where she could. She was thankful that she had packed very lightly it was much easier to lug around a backpack than try and drag a large piece of luggage around with her. Star pulled her hair into a ponytail pushing her bangs out her eyes as she neared her home.

Pulling the keys out she held her breath unsure of what she was about to walk into but hoping for the best. Everything looked normal the small house she and her friend lived in looked exactly the same as she had left it, the wind chimes tinkling in the light breeze.

She inserted the key and opened the door, "Hello? Beth?" The silence was the only thing that greeted her, she wished her bubbly blonde friend/housemate would come bouncing down the stairs just like normal. She would know what was going on or at least have an idea of what could possibly be happening outside. But it was obvious to the redhead that no one was home by the unusual silence that filled their normally lively home. She made her way into the kitchen grabbing a water bottle and setting her bag on the counter, she pulled her cell phone from her bag and put it onto the charger and finished her water while waiting for her phone to have enough battery to make a call to try and find out where everyone was and what was happening.

She went into the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water trying to refresh herself after the traumatic morning she had been having. She dried her face pulling her ponytail a little tighter she left the bathroom and kicked off her shoes opening the back door, her feet hit the small grassy area of her back yard. The tall fence blocking anything from her view and for a moment everything seemed normal, she knelt into a cross-legged position and gently touched the ground digging her fingers into the ground slightly sending out tendrils of magic looking for her friends unique magical signature. Nothing, she felt nothing of her friend and she knew at that moment she wasn’t alive anymore.

The next thing she tried to do was send out a tendril of magic to feel if her best friend David had made it, she pictured her goofy, brunette, tall friend. She had known him forever and she needed to see if he was safe, he was the second closest to her location normally he had also been dating Beth before she had left. She came up with a blank, it made her feel sick, she had never known a time without him.

The last tendril she sent out was one she didn't know if she could survive not feeling, her mate. Will, her lover and the person she couldn't live without. She felt his cold aura and sighed in relief, it touched against her magic like a lover's caress and she breathed a sigh of relief. He would more than likely be sleeping at the moment, but knowing that he was safe lifted a burden off of her shoulders that she didn't even realize she had been carrying.

She stood, thanking the Earth for allowing her to search for her friends and made her way back into the kitchen. She snagged her phone off the counter disconnecting the charging cord, she checked her text messages, she saw nothing new and checked her voicemails, one from Beth yesterday morning telling her she was going to the book store and she'd see her later. Then came the one she was hoping to be able to miss David, his panicked voice telling her "Don't come home, somethings wrong with people. We've seen some crazy things, but nothing like this. Stay with the coven, you'll be safe." She wished she had heard this message earlier, but couldn't do anything about it now.

Looking up at the clock she tried to call Will, the lines were down and nothing was going through. He was probably still asleep anyways, she grabbed an apple from the counter and decided that she should probably wait for him, he would find her tonight the pull of a mate was a strong bond and they would be drawn to each other after so much time apart.

Finishing her apple she moved into the living room she fished through the couch for the remote, finally finding it she turned on the television to watch the chaos unfold. News reports of zombies everywhere, frightened news anchors warning people to avoid major areas and stay indoors.

***

Star woke up after falling asleep, the sun was just beginning to set. She had been out for several hours, she straightened her ponytail and headed into the kitchen feeling famished. There wasn't too much food in the fridge as Beth hadn't been a very good cook and Star had been away with a coven healing after coming to terms with her grief. She took a deep and staggering breath, it wasn't every day that someone had to come to terms with the loss of a loved one, but for her every day was getting easier to heal. Her twin had been her other half the second she had entered the world. Jesse was her best friend and the other half of her soul, his death had been a horrible one for her and of all her friends.

She grabbed the milk out of the fridge and fixed herself a bowl of cereal, captain crunch to the rescue. She quickly devoured the bowl and took it to the sink to rinse it. She grabbed her bag off the counter taking it into the living room she tossed it onto the couch. Grabbing the living room rug up off the ground she tossed it over a chair revealing a casting circle. Its mystical symbols glowed as if welcoming her home.

She walked over to a bookshelf that had many spell ingredients on it mixed with the books and selected what she would need. She carried her items to the circle and placed everything she would need for her spell within the circle. She grabbed her bag off the couch and began by stating her intentions "I will this bag to always have what I need within it, let it be a portal to where I need it to be." She lit her candles and mixed the collection of herbs together sitting them off to the side.

"Ecce ego ad faciet Sabaoth lapides sacculi" She lit the mixture on fire and a plum of purple fire lit up the room before going out quickly. She sliced her hand and mixed the blood into the ashes, dipping her fingers into the mixture she drew a sigil on her bag, she poured the rest of the mixture into a small Tupperware container.

Her backpack glowed before going straight to it's previous black again, she had now enchanted it to be an unfillable bag that would never be too heavy and always allow her to find what she needed provided she was able to put the matching sigil where ever she would need things. A tap at her door broke her concentration and she opened her circle, thanking the goddess for her help.

"Will" She breathed his name out like a sigh of relief. Her mate stood watching her, blue eyes piercing into her green ones.