The Hunter Forbidden Witch

MAEVE POV BOOM! The entire house shook. I woke up with a scream trapped in my throat. For a few seconds, I had no idea where I was. My bedroom was dark. The curtains were flying wildly across the room, even though I knew I had closed the windows before going to sleep. My books had fallen from the shelf. Something crashed onto the floor beside my bed. I sat up so quickly that my head spun. “What the hell was that?” My heart was beating hard against my chest. Then I heard it. A growl, a low, deep, close sound, something straight out of a movie. I stopped breathing. My eyes slowly moved toward my bedroom door. It was closed, but there was something standing behind it. I could see a shadow underneath the door. My stomach dropped. The shadow was too big to be a person. It stretched across the floor, almost reaching my bed. I pulled my blanket around myself. “Da… Dad?” No answer. I swallowed. “Dad?” Another growl came from the other side of the door. This time, I heard claws dragging across the wooden floor. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Every hair on my body stood up. I reached for my phone on the bedside table. The screen wouldn’t turn on. “What?” I pressed the button again. Nothing. I tried again. Still nothing. My hands had started shaking. This wasn’t normal. None of this was normal. I looked around my room, searching for something I could use as a weapon. A lamp. A book. Anything. Then I noticed something glowing on my chest. My necklace. I touched it. The moment my fingers closed around the small silver pendant, heat shot through my hand. I gasped and pulled it away. “What the…” The pendant was glowing. Not brightly. Just enough to give my dark bedroom a faint silver light. I stared at it. I had owned that necklace for as long as I could remember. My father had given it to me when I was little. He always told me never to take it off. I had never questioned him. Until now. The glow grew stronger. Then the mirror across my room cracked. CRACK! I screamed. A thin line appeared across the glass. I jumped out of bed. Another crack appeared. Then another. Within seconds, the entire mirror was covered in cracks. I stood frozen. My breathing became shallow. Something was moving inside the reflection. I stared at it. At first, I thought it was my imagination, or my eyes playing tricks on me right now. Then I saw the shape clearly. Someone was standing behind me. My blood turned cold. I spun around. Nothing. My room was empty. I slowly looked back at the mirror. The figure was still there. Tall. Thin. Its body was covered in what looked like black smoke. I couldn’t see its face. Only two pale eyes. They were staring straight at me. I stepped backward. My heel hit the side of my bed. “No…” The figure inside the mirror tilted its head. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even scream. Then its mouth opened. A horrible sound came from the mirror. Not words. A whisper. A long, broken whisper that made my skin crawl. I grabbed the necklace again. The pendant suddenly flashed. The figure disappeared. The bedroom door flew open. I screamed. “Dad!” My father stood in the doorway. But something was wrong. He wasn’t wearing his usual clothes. He had on a dark jacket, black boots, and gloves. And in his right hand was a silver blade. I had never seen it before. His eyes immediately found mine. “Maeve.” His voice was serious. Too serious. “What is going on?” “Get behind me.” I stared at him. “What?” “Maeve, get behind me.” “Dad, there’s something in my room!” “I know.” That answer scared me more than anything else. “You know?” He stepped into the room. His eyes moved toward the broken mirror. His jaw tightened. Then he looked back at me. “Come here.” I didn’t move. “Dad, what is happening?” “Now.” I rushed toward him. He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him. His hand was shaking. My father never shook. He was the calmest person I knew. Even when things went wrong, he always knew what to do. But tonight, he looked terrified. A loud crash came from downstairs. BANG! I jumped. “What was that?” My father tightened his grip on the blade. Another crash. Then another. Someone was inside the house. “Stay here,” he whispered. “What?” “I need you to listen to me.” His eyes met mine. “If I tell you to run, you run.” My heart sank. “Why?” “Don’t ask questions.” “But Dad…” “Maeve.” His voice cracked. I had never heard him speak to me like that. I nodded. He turned toward the hallway. Then something slammed into the front door. BOOM! The entire house shook. My father raised the silver blade. A strange white light appeared along its edge. I stared at it. “What is that?” He didn’t answer. The front door burst open. Something rushed inside. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing. It looked almost human. But it wasn’t. Its arms were too long. Its fingers ended in sharp claws. Dark veins covered its face. Its eyes were completely red. It looked straight at me. My father stepped forward. “Stay back!” The creature screamed. The sound was so loud that I covered my ears. My father swung the blade. A bright flash filled the hallway. The creature flew backward and crashed into the wall. I stared in shock. My father had just thrown a monster across the room with a sword. A real monster. Inside our house. My entire life suddenly felt like a lie. The creature slowly stood up. A strange black liquid ran from the corner of its mouth. It wiped it away. Then it looked at me again. It took a step forward. My father moved in front of me. “No.” The creature growled. My father lifted his weapon. “You’re not taking her.” My chest tightened. Taking me? Why would it want me? “What does it want?” I whispered. My father didn’t answer. The creature charged. My father met it halfway. The room exploded into movement. Claws struck metal. My father ducked. The creature swung again. He blocked it. I backed away until my body hit the wall. I wanted to help him. I wanted to run. I wanted to wake up. Maybe this was a nightmare. Maybe I would open my eyes and find myself in bed. But the pain in my feet from the broken glass on the floor told me this was real. Then the creature stopped. It looked past my father. Straight at me. Its expression changed. The anger disappeared. Something else replaced it. Fear. The creature looked afraid of me. I frowned. “Why is it looking at me like that?” My father slowly turned his head. His face changed the moment he saw the necklace. The silver pendant was glowing brighter than before. “Maeve…” “What?” He stared at my hands. I looked down. A faint silver light was moving beneath my skin. I screamed. “What is happening to me?” My father dropped the blade. He rushed toward me. “Stay calm.” “How can I stay calm?” The light moved from my hands up my arms. My skin felt like it was burning. I grabbed my arms. “It hurts!” “Bare a little more.” “Dadddd, help me!” He reached for me. I pulled away. “Don’t touch me!” Tears filled my eyes. I was terrified. My own body was frightening me. The light became brighter. The walls began shaking. Books lifted from the floor. The curtains flew upward. The creature backed away. My father looked at it. Then at me. His face had gone completely pale. “Your magic is waking up.” I stared at him. “My what?” He didn’t answer. “Dad!” The floor cracked beneath my feet. A sharp pain ripped through my chest. I screamed. The sound didn’t even feel like my own. The necklace burned against my skin. Then everything inside me exploded. BOOM! A wave of silver energy burst from my body. The creature flew backward and disappeared through the broken wall. Every window in the house shattered at once. Glass flew across the room. My father fell to the floor. I dropped onto my knees. Everything went silent. For a few seconds, I could hear nothing except my own breathing. My hands were still glowing. I stared at them through my tears. “What am I?” My father slowly stood. He looked at me like he had been waiting twenty years to hear that question. He walked toward me. Then he knelt. His eyes were wet. I had never seen my father cry. Not once. “What aren’t you telling me?” He looked down. “I wanted to keep you safe.” “Safe from what?” “From all of this.” He touched my cheek. His hand was cold. “You were never supposed to know.” My chest tightened. “Know what?” He took a slow breath. Then he said it. “You are a witch.” I stared at him. For a moment, I honestly thought I had heard him wrong. “A what?” “A witch.” I almost laughed. But his face stopped me. He wasn’t joking. “You’ve been lying to me your entire life?” “I was protecting you.” “From witches?” “From everyone.” I wiped the tears from my face. “What does that even mean?” “You have powers, Maeve. Powerful ones.” I looked at my hands. The silver glow had finally disappeared. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “Because if you knew, they would find you.” “Who?” He looked toward the broken window. His silence made my stomach twist. “Who would find me?” He finally looked at me. “The people who have been searching for you.” I felt a chill run down my back. “Why would anyone search for me?” He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reached for the necklace around my neck. His fingers brushed the pendant. “This belonged to your mother.” I froze. “My mother?” My mother had been dead. At least, that’s what I had always believed. She had died when I was a baby. That was the story my father had told me. He had never spoken much about her. I had stopped asking questions years ago because I knew it hurt him. But now he was looking at me with an expression I couldn’t understand. “Your mother isn’t dead.” Everything inside me stopped. “What?” “She’s alive.” I stared at him. “No.” “Maeve…” “No.” I shook my head. “You told me she died.” “I lied.” My lips parted. Tears rolled down my cheeks again. “Why?” “Because I had to.” “Where is she?” He looked away. “She’s trapped.” “Where?” “In a place you don’t know.” My heart was beating painfully fast. I grabbed his jacket. “Then take me to her.” “I can’t.” “Why?” “Because it’s too dangerous.” “She’s my mother!” “I know.” “Then where is she?” His eyes met mine. “The Ancient Elf Kingdom.” I stared at him. The name sounded impossible. Like something from a fairy tale. But after tonight, I wasn’t sure anything was impossible anymore. I slowly let go of his jacket. Then another question entered my mind. “If my mother is alive…” My voice broke. “Why did you raise me alone?” My father closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was something in them that made my heart hurt. “Because I was trying to protect you from your sister.” I frowned. “My sister?” He nodded. “You have a twin.” The room seemed to tilt. “What?” “Her name is Neev.” I stared at him. A sister. A twin. A person who looked exactly like me. Someone I had never known existed. “Where is she?” My father didn’t answer. “Dad…” His face hardened. “Neev is dangerous.” The necklace around my neck suddenly grew hot again. I grabbed it. Outside the broken window, something moved between the trees. I looked toward it. For one split second, I saw two pale eyes staring back at me. Then they vanished as quickly. My father stood quickly. His expression changed. “They all know you’re awake my child.” I turned back to him. “Who?” He picked up the silver blade. Then he looked at me with the kind of fear I had never seen in his eyes before. “Everyone.” And somewhere far beyond our world, a woman who had my face opened her eyes. She smiled. “Finally.”