The Raven and the Witch Hunter

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Vanessa's bones ached. There was no other way to describe it. What should've been a regular day on set had instead turned into a crazy free-for-all. She yanked the door of her trailer open; her weariness causing her to groan at the strain on her tired arm muscles. Looking down, she groaned again when she noticed a tremble in her biceps.

"I never signed up for this," she muttered to herself, entering the trailer and letting the cheap metal door slam behind her.

She sat down in the chair in front of her mirror, grabbing makeup remover and wiping off not only her pancake makeup but actual pancakes. Vanessa had been surprised when she'd shown up to work that morning to find the director disturbingly gleeful. She'd expected to shoot a relatively tame living room scene that day, but when he'd informed the cast that he'd changed his mind and decided the episode needed more punch, she'd been certain she wouldn't like his good mood after all. When she found out they were going to do a breakfast food-fight instead, she should have known today would be a disaster.

Normally, getting messy wouldn’t have bothered her. But unfortunately, they’d had to shoot the scene close to thirty times to get it right. That meant that plate after plate was thrown at her and by her, not to mention all the makeup, hair, and clothing changes that were required each time they’d had to do another take. Vanessa usually had energy to spare, given the extra ‘oomph’ that came from her ability to change into a raven and control air magic, but apparently, this had overwhelmed even her ample resources.

When she was convinced that she was as clean as she could get without a twenty minute shower, Vanessa changed back into her jeans and a plain T-shirt before throwing on her three-season jacket. The weather had finally started to warm up, but it was still chilly in the evenings and Vanessa knew her tired body would not appreciate being cold. A faint knock on the door broke her grouchy reverie and Vanessa moved stiffly as she pulled it open.

"Hey, you were late and didn't call, so I thought I’d stop by and see if you needed anything."

Vanessa smiled. Just like that, her fatigue and pain melted away at the sight of her beautiful new wife. "We just finished. Today was totally brutal."

Emma Jane tilted her head to the side, giving Vanessa a critical once over before stepping in and allowing the door to shut behind her. She leaned in, offering Vanessa her lips, which she accepted gratefully. A mixture of joy, love, and desire filled her instantaneously. For a moment, they stood there, clasped together in a tight embrace. When Vanessa felt her desire began to overwhelm all other sensations, she reluctantly pulled back to look at Emma Jane.

"You’re exactly what I need right now. Amazingly, I already feel way better than I did a second ago. I'm glad you came. Does that mean you finished whatever it was you were doing?"

Emma Jane’s expression transitioned through a series of emotions. While Vanessa could see the love, which she knew was mirrored on her own face, she also caught a faint flicker of guilt flash across her countenance before it was hidden behind Emma Jane's trademark stoicism.

Emma Jane nodded. "Yes, for now. And I missed you, so I thought I’d see where you were."

Vanessa pulled back, grabbing her purse and looping her arm back through Emma Jane's. "Well, your timing is good, because I'm ready to go. How did you get here?"

Emma Jane shrugged. "I walked. It was a nice evening, and I felt the need to be outside and reconnect."

Vanessa raised her eyebrows but didn't comment. After only a few short months together, Vanessa was aware of Emma Jane’s need to spend time outside, preferably in areas that weren't developed by humans. She said it allowed her to meditate and contact the Great Spirit better and Vanessa hadn’t questioned her reasons. Prior to grade twelve, when she'd discovered her own powers, Vanessa had been more of an indoor girl. But once she’d developed her ability to control the air and transform into the shape of a raven, she'd felt profoundly connected to nature as well. So the fact that Emma Jane had walked for almost an hour just to check on her didn't strike her as unusual, even though she had the sneaking suspicion Emma Jane had something else on her mind.

"I brought the car to work, so no walking for me tonight. Any ideas what you'd like to do for supper? We can hit up a drive through on the way home, if you want," Vanessa offered.

Emma Jane wrinkled her nose. “Let me think on it for a bit.”

The two women walked out together as Vanessa waved absently at the few familiar faces they passed. On Fridays, the set usually cleared out within ten minutes except for stragglers like Vanessa, who preferred to clean up as much as she could prior to leaving. Then again, she’d also been getting interesting and complex makeup lately, while most of the behind stage people were free to leave after they’d put their equipment away.

Once in the car, Emma Jane answered Vanessa's earlier question. "Cat mentioned before I left that she’d like Chinese take-out tonight if we were interested. I can send her a text and let her know that's okay if you want? That way we don't have to stop anywhere."

Vanessa was learning how to wait, a new and weird experience for her. She had a tendency to blurt, but she found herself trying harder to be considerate and wait for Emma Jane to say something first. To her surprise, for the most part, it had worked. While quiet, Emma Jane had plenty to say if you gave her enough time to say it. She’d simply been raised to think first before speaking, which was a trait Vanessa was eager to learn.

Vanessa nodded, putting the car into gear and backing out of the parking lot. "Sounds good. The usual is fine."

Emma Jane sent a quick text to Cat, sitting back comfortably in the passenger seat as Vanessa drove the short distance. Due to her vision making her legally blind, Emma Jane had never learned how to drive, but she was a surprisingly calm backseat driver compared to Vanessa’s sister, Cat, who still occasionally tried to grab the wheel from her. Then again, Cat likely had bad memories from the car accident they’d been in back in high school, so it was understandable.

By the time they arrived home, Vanessa was relieved to find her muscles less sore than they’d been when she finished work. Thankful for her ability to recover quickly, Vanessa looped her arm through Emma Jane's and they walked up the stairway together. Vanessa paused at the landing, looking down at Emma Jane's shiny, dark hair that had fallen in front of her shoulders and went all the way down to the middle of her chest. Smiling, Vanessa brushed it back, letting her hand linger as it moved across her body.

Emma Jane's eyes began to swirl, their usual milky white darkening into thunderclouds. Vanessa watched with fascination as the evidence of her love's emotions became apparent. Unable to help herself, Vanessa leaned in, stealing a kiss on the doorstep of their house. Sure, Cat still lived there, but ever since they’d returned from the mountains as a married couple, Vanessa had thought of the apartment as their place. She wasn't sure how long they'd been standing there, lost in each other's lips, but the sound of someone awkwardly clearing their throat brought her back to the present with a jerk.

Turning around to find an uncomfortable appearing young man holding a large paper bag, she realized they must've been standing outside longer then she’d thought. Either that, or Cat had already ordered before Emma Jane had texted her back.

"I have a delivery, for Cat?"

The short young man held the bag out with shaking hands. Vanessa read all kinds of anxiety radiating off the man, even without having any superhuman abilities to do so.

Vanessa bit back a laugh as she nodded. "Yes, that's us. How much is it? I can take it from you."

The man nodded, eagerly accepting her money before turning tail and almost running down the stairs and into the night. The minute he was out of earshot, Vanessa let her laughter go. Emma Jane joined in, shaking her head.

"Well, he certainly seemed surprised," she stated, a soft smile on her face as she gazed up at Vanessa.

Vanessa found herself falling back under the spell of Emma Jane's eyes, until the door opened without warning.

"Are you guys having fun? I could hear you out here. Isn't it too cold to stand out here and do... whatever it is that you're doing?"

Cat leaned on the door, gesturing at Vanessa and Emma Jane with one eyebrow arched in amusement.

Vanessa laughed, brushing past her sister with the bag of food and placing it on the counter. "Whatever, Cat. I was just enjoying a goodnight kiss, then the food guy showed up and brought me a present."

Cat rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's what you were doing. Anyway, I'm starved. I ordered all my favorites." Cat relented when she saw Vanessa's narrowed eyes. "And yours, of course. After all, it's a celebration."

Vanessa pursed her lips. "Celebration? What exactly are we celebrating?" She looked suspiciously at Cat, but when her eyes moved to Emma Jane in time to catch her covering her mouth, Vanessa lowered her head and crossed her arms.

"Oops?" Cat said, looking guilty.

Emma Jane just laughed, sitting down at the table after grabbing herself a plate of food. "It's fine, Cat. I was going to tell her over supper anyway. Now that we have food, technically you haven’t spilled the beans."

Vanessa sat beside Emma Jane and put her plate down. "Tell me what, exactly?"

Vanessa wondered if this had anything to do with the hint of guilt she’d seen in her wife’s face earlier at work. Emma Jane was usually an open book, so Vanessa knew something was up. Hopefully, it was something she'd enjoy.

Emma Jane chewed a bite of ginger beef, slowly, dragging out Vanessa’s suspense until she was almost ready to snap before she finally responded, setting her fork down and looking earnestly at Vanessa.

"I wanted to show you how special you are. While I was trying to think of ways I could do that, I realized that we never had a honeymoon."

Vanessa sat back, floored. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all. "What do you mean? We got married in Banff. I thought that was our honeymoon."

Emma Jane shrugged. "I considered it part of the wedding, myself. Now that we've had the family ceremony and party, I’d like us to go somewhere together, to get away from your work and everyone else."

Vanessa felt her excitement rise, remembering how stressful their second wedding day had been. "Okay, I'm listening. So far, I'm liking how this sounds. How did you manage to arrange this without me finding out?"

Emma Jane smiled, her bright white teeth almost glowing against her darkly tanned skin. "I had a helper.” She tilted her head toward Cat.

Cat blushed. "Honestly, Vanessa, I only helped a little. I know you hate surprises unless you're the one doing them, but Emma Jane needed names and phone numbers, and well, a set of eyes..." Cat trailed off, the last words hardly a mumble as Vanessa's eyebrows rose even higher.

"I'm still listening. I'm not sure if I'm going to be upset or not yet. I need a few more details to decide."

Emma Jane nodded. "Fair enough. Well, I remembered you saying that you’d never had a chance to travel, as you guys moved around a lot growing up." Emma Jane looked at Cat, who ducked her head at Vanessa's mistrustful look. "So, with Cat’s help, I contacted your work to find out when the best time to go away would be. It just so happens that it was possible to get a few weeks off once this week’s scenes are shot. The director promised that we could take off after work is over on Friday."

Vanessa blinked in surprise. "You got him to make you a promise? After everything that's happened on set in the last few months?"

Emma Jane nodded and Vanessa knew she was also thinking about their run-in with the producer’s late wife a few months earlier. She’d been a witch who’d targeted Vanessa’s workplace, using it for a steady supply of young actresses to steal their beauty, along with their souls.

That was how Emma Jane had met Vanessa in the first place. Cat’s best friend, Evelyn, had warned Emma Jane that Vanessa was going to be the witch's next victim unless she intervened. While Vanessa wasn't excited about having to fight evil, in this case, she felt she owed a debt of gratitude to the woman who'd tried to kill her. After all, if it hadn't been for the witch, Emma Jane would've never come into her life, and she wouldn't be the happiest she'd ever been.

Cat interrupted the shared moment, clearing her throat hesitantly. "I may have had something to do with that. I went with Emma Jane in person last week and kind of, maybe, put a little shine on his aura."

At Vanessa’s shocked look, Cat blushed again. "I felt so bad for the guy, Vanessa. I mean, his aura was incredibly sad. It’s been a tough year all around, and it’s hard to have that many people die around you. I just took some of the sadness away. I guess he was so happy that when Emma Jane asked him for two weeks off for a honeymoon right after that, well, he had absolutely no problem with the idea."

Vanessa laughed. "Wow, Cat, I never thought you’d do that. Isn't that kinda my thing?"

Vanessa usually tried not to use her charisma, which was part and parcel of the set of gifts she discovered, but that was how she’d scored their apartment. Not only was she outgoing and generally well-liked, but if someone was being particularly difficult, she could always use her charm to influence them. She hadn't been expecting her almost completely Girl Scout-good sister to do anything of the sort, however.

Cat got a petulant look on her face but moved on. "Anyway," she paused while Vanessa smirked, then continued. "He was in such a good mood he agreed to two weeks off after Friday’s shoot. Sounds like he's of the opinion that the entire cast and crew could do with a short break after losing four people in a short amount of time. Plus, you guys are close to the end of the season, so he wants to sit down with the writers for a week without anyone else there. He said something about planning next season?"

Vanessa nodded. "Okay, that makes more sense. You mean, he doesn't want to pay people to be on set while he's brainstorming."

Cat nodded, waving a hand. "Exactly. That's about where my involvement ended."

Vanessa looked at Emma Jane. "Did you say helper, or helpers?"

Emma Jane smiled, and Vanessa saw her mischievous inner child peek out. "Well, I may have spoken with Evelyn, as well."

Vanessa pursed her lips. "Interesting. And what did Evelyn have to say?"

This time, Emma Jane couldn’t hold back a smile. "Well, the place I thought we should go involved a bit of a journey. I wasn't thrilled by the plane flight we took between here and Banff, as you recall, so I wasn't looking forward to the idea of doing something like that again so soon."

"Okay, I can't wait anymore. Stop dragging this out. Where are we going?"

Vanessa leaned forward, all thoughts of food completely forgotten as she rubbed her hands together and waited for Emma Jane to answer. Plane travel usually meant somewhere awesome.

Emma Jane now looked every bit as excited as Vanessa felt as she blurted out one word.

"France!"

Vanessa's mouth dropped open, then she jumped up and squealed.