The Lunar Witch

Chapter 4

I stuttered and looked back at the man on my floor. He was drenched in blood, sutured up to his neck. It didn’t look good.

“Pepper, is that your blood or his?” Oliver asked. He was staring at me. I looked down at myself and saw what shocked them. My white silk slip had turned crimson and clung to me. My legs were covered in blood and mud. And my hands up to my elbows were bloody, too. As I moved my head to inspect myself, red drops appeared on the floor. The ends of my hair had been dipped into the blood. The sticky blood shined in the light.

“It’s not mine. I, uh, didn’t get hurt.” My voice shook. Oliver moved to approach me, as if to help. He hated blood and hesitated. Chrys walked to the man and kneeled to inspect him.

“Where’s Gran? Why isn’t she down here?” Oliver asked. His face had turned a sickly pale.

“Gran? Um… “ So much had happened in the past few hours; I had a hard time focusing. “She left.” I said.

“What’s wrong with him? That’s a lot of blood, Pepper. And I know that House probably cleaned up a lot more.” She stood and turned to me. My mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out.

“What’s happened to him?” she asked again. I just shook my head.

“It’s OK Pepper, we’re here now. We sensed you needed help from your amulet. Did he try to hurt you? It felt like you were scared?” Oliver asked. His voice was soft and reassuring. I looked up at him. They felt my fear through the amulet?

“He was unconscious when I found him. I pulled him into the house. I thought he was dead, but he had a pulse. So, I sutured him up and gave him medicine. He didn’t hurt me. Never even moved.” The image of his wound kept flashing in my mind, turning my stomach.

“Well, he most’ve been badly injured to bleed so much. What’s wrong with him?” Chrys asked while crossing her arms.

“H-he was gutted.” I met her eyes again. She c****d her head and her eyebrows furrowed.

“Excuse me?”

“He was disemboweled. He’s missing most of his organs. He was gutted like a fish!” My mind cleared, and I stopped shaking. When did I start shaking?

“Wait. You’re telling me that this man is missing most of his organs? And he’s alive?” Chrys asked. I nodded yes. She checked his pulse and recoiled. Disgust washed over her face.

“What have you done?! How could you keep him alive like this? It’s cruel! It’s torture!” Chrys yelled. Oliver gagged and covered his mouth.

“What do you mean, what have I done? I’m trying to save his life! If his heart is still beating, that means there’s a chance he’ll live!”

“No! It’s cruel to keep him alive like this. You don’t know if he’s in pain. Or if he’s conscious. What if he’s brain dead?” Chrys’s voice was raising, and her arms were flailing.

“I don’t know Chrys! I don’t know if he’s in pain or if he’s conscious, or if he’s brain dead! All I know is his heart is beating. So, his body must be working hard to keep him alive! What would you have me do? Leave him there to die?” My arms sunk to my sides. Leave him to die? Something fluttered in my stomach. No. I can’t let him die.

“No. That would be as cruel as keeping him alive. We must kill him.”

“What?!” I choked out.

“Chrys!” Oliver said, before gagging again.

“It would be a mercy. We would be putting him out of his misery.”

“No! We can’t–“

“Pepper, it’s more harmful to him to keep him alive like this.” Chrys said.

“I think Chrys is right. We don’t know what kind of state he’s in. Do you think he can regrow his organs? If he heals, what will his quality of life be?” Oliver and Chrys gave each other a look. It was a look I’d seen a thousand times before. They had made their decision and disregarded how I felt. Nothing I said would matter. They’re going to kill him. My head became foggy, and I sunk to the floor.

Despair grew in the pit of my stomach and my hands grew cold. They can’t kill him. I looked at him and watched as his chest rose and fell with ragged breaths. Why did he come here? Fate must’ve brought him to me. He’s meant to be here. The thoughts rang through my mind. Fate brought him here.

“No! You can’t kill him!” I cried out. Hot tears ran down my cheeks. “You can’t! I promised I’d do everything in my power to save him! Please!” My words broke off and turned into sobs.

“Shhh Pepper. It’s okay. We won’t.” Oliver knelt in front of me, patting the top of my head.

“Oliver, we have to.” said Chrys.

“Chrys, look at her! She’s obviously distressed.” said Oliver. “Let’s put him in the infirmary for now. We can discuss it again in the morning.” Oliver put his arms out. He was in ready position to cast a spell that would levitate him to the infirmary.

“Fine. We’ll see if he even makes it that long.” Chrys raised her arms, and they both began chanting. The man rose from the floor, and they walked him into the hallway, down the stairs to the infirmary.

I willed myself to get up and followed them into the infirmary.

House accommodates the patients in the infirmary for their needs. The room House had created was large, with a bed against the far wall, which Chrys and Oliver placed the man on. There were cabinets in the room filled with medical supplies and potions. There was a small couch near the bed, which House included for patients with large families and lots of visitors. Next to the couch was a doorway into a bathroom. I’ll be sleeping on that couch a lot. Hopefully House made it comfy this time.

They placed him on the bed. Once he was settled, they lowered their arms and turned to me. Chrys sighed, pursed her lips, then left the room. Oliver inspected the man and grimaced. He looked down at my feet. His face, a sickly pale, turned green.

“You should go wash off.” He nodded at the puddle of blood gathering at my feet.

“I guess you’re right.”

I went into the bathroom that House had made. It was larger than I expected, with both a standing shower and a claw-foot tub. The room was white with homey accents, including a little basket sat on the back of the toilet filled with soaps. Blood dripped down my arms and splattered onto the floor, clashing against the stark white tiles. I sighed as the cold tiles drained the last of my energy through my feet.

I blinked away the sleep that desperately wanted to come. Shower Pepper. You must shower. As I walked to the shower, I left bloody footprints along the floor. I stripped from my blood-soaked night gown, and it squelched as it hit the ground.

Stepping into the shower, I let the scorching water wash away all the blood and fatigue from the last few hours. My arms ached from dragging the man inside, and it took all my energy to wash his blood from my hair. Am I torturing him? Is it cruel to keep him alive? For a moment, I watched his blood go down the drain.

No. He was brought to me. I was meant to save him. Gran always tells us to follow our instincts. Our gut is our most powerful weapon. I could hear her voice resonate as if she was speaking to me in my mind.

My blood had seeped into the crevasses of my necklace. I scrubbed it with soap and rinsed it clean. It was tradition for Witch children to receive protective jewelry. Family members could sense if the child was in danger and come to their aid. Normally, when the child turned 17, and had proved their magical capabilities, they had a coming-of-age celebration. They’d turn in their protective jewelry, and it would be handed down to the next generation.

But since I didn’t have magic, I never had a coming-of-age celebration. So, I still had to wear the amulet in case something happened to me. I’ve never needed it before tonight.

I fought my aching muscles and scrubbed away the blood until I rinsed clean and didn’t smell iron anymore. Once I opened the shower door, I found House had cleaned up my bloody mess. House was even thoughtful enough to leave me a new pair of pjs on the counter. I dried off and patted the spot where House had left the clothes.

“Thank you, House. For the clothes… and getting me up tonight.” I stepped out of the bathroom and found Oliver sitting on the little couch watching the man. He gave me a tired smile.

“I can watch him while you sleep?”

“Thanks.”