Captured Witch

VII. The Surprise no one wanted.

Edwin stood there with his men. There were at least 30 immortals on his side and 10 witches on ours. Edwin didn’t look at anyone but me. I stood my ground, determined to fight for my freedom, and those around me. “I guess you really are stubborn. You won’t be much use to this fight with that serum still in your system. I can tell how much it’s weakened you. Although I must admit, you are pretty strong. Most people would find it hard to stand straight, yet you are able to walk about just fine. How curious.”

            “Well I guess your medical curiosity will stand because I’m not coming with you” I said angrily.

            He chuckled. I stared at him with a fire in my eyes. I was angry. Just because I was a biological child of the immortals does not make me theirs. I was ready for a fight because I sure as hell wasn’t going willingly. Edwin motioned for his men to advance toward us. Ella shouted at me to run. I stood stubbornly for a moment. She pushed me and I took off running. 

            Edwin ran after me. I kept pushing forward, trying my best to outrun him but my head was killing me. “Stupid serum, stupid immortals” I muttered. 

            I kept running but Edwin was close behind me. The only thing I had left was my magic. I tried a Latin spell reciting, “invisibilia”. 

            “f**k!” Edwin screamed. 

            I ducked behind the thickest tree I could find and caught my breath. “You can’t keep outrunning me Adalaide.” He was picking up leaves and dirt and throwing them toward certain areas. I kept moving to the side, trying to be as quiet as possible. The invisibility spell masked me, but it didn’t mute my sound or hide my footprints. I almost ran into one of his goons. I held my breath as he stood literally right in front of me. He stepped to the side and asked Edwin what he could do. “Just keep your eye out for footprints. These witches are too tricky for their own good.”

            I tried to stay as still as I could. I watched as the immortals carried off Ella and the other elders. I won’t lie, I was terrified, but I would be damned if I was going without a fight. Edwin continued to throw things in hopes that it would hit me and show where I was. Once I was far enough behind both of them, I took off running. I heard the immortal who was looking for my footprints yell, but I was far enough away that I had the advantage. I pushed myself harder than I had before. I guess that gym class that James forced me to take had its advantages. But Edwin had something against me. 

            “Aren’t you curious about your mother? What happened to her after she abandoned you in the woods?”

            I knew he was trying to provoke me. I kept running. Then I hit something. There was no one there. I tried to run forward again, but it was like there was a wall. I hit it with my hands, angry. I tried moving to the side but was hit by another invisible wall. I screamed angrily. He had another witch trap me in an invisible box. “What do you have mimes working for you now?”

            “This would be much easier if I could see you, but if you want to do it the hard way we can.”

            Not about to lose my one advantage, I stayed invisible. I rummaged through my brain for any spell to counteract the one I was trapped in. Before I know it, Edwin was standing right in front of me, staring at me. That witch must have counteracted my spell.  “That will be all. You can remove it now.” He talked to someone behind me. After a second, he waved someone away. I turned to see who he was talking to. I saw a woman. Let me tell you, if looks could kill, I believe Edwin would already be dead.

            “Go sit in the car.” He told her.

            Almost robotically she followed his instructions. I stood still, frightened as what he would do. He pulled out another set of handcuffs from his pocket and dangled them in front of me. “Remember these” He asked. 

            “All too well” I replied. I stuck both of my hands out, not wanting to put up a fight. I would need to conserve my energy for later. 

            “No fight? I’m truly surprised.”

            He grabbed my left hand and locked the cuff on. Edwin led me to car with the other witch. He threw me in the backseat with her, wrapped the handcuffs on the handle on the ceiling of the car, cuffed my other hand,  and slammed the door. I looked at her and pulled my hands as far toward her as I could. “Any chance of getting help?” I asked. 

            She held up her uncuffed hands and replied, “Trust me, if I had any say in it you would still be roaming free.”

            I rested my head against the headrest. “Well it was worth a try.”

            Edwin hopped in the driver's seat. He seemed upbeat. He turned to look at me. “Ready?”

            I ignored him. I turned and looked out the window. “Okay then,” he replied, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

            I shot him an angry look. He laughed and put the car into drive and started to drive off.  I looked back out the window for the longest time. It felt like I was never going to get out of this damn car. After a while we finally pull into the parking lot of a nice-looking hotel. “Stay in the car” Edwin ordered. I knew he wasn’t ordering me because I was still handcuffed to the handle, I wasn’t going anywhere. Edwin got out and walked around the car to my door. He threw open the door and uncuffed my right hand. “Can you behave?”

            I sarcastically tilted my head. He sighed and pulled what looked like a silver bracelet out of his pocket. He placed it on my uncuffed hand, and I heard a click. “This bracelet acts just like the handcuffs, just gives you more hand mobility.” He began to uncuff my left hand. “If you can behave inside, I’ll let you keep the bracelet on.”

            “Oh, how generous of you.” I rolled my eyes. 

            Edwin yanked me out of the car. We went to the front desk and got the keys for a room on the top floor. It had already been reserved for Edwin. The front desk lady looked at me. “You must be a very lucky young lady. Not many fathers bring their daughters on trips like this.” She smiled at me. 

            I smiled back and Edwin began to usher me to the room. When he opened the door what I saw wasn’t a simple hotel room. It was like a penthouse apartment. I wandered in looking around in amazement. I’ve never been in such a lavish place. Edwin laughed and I turned to look at him. “What?” I asked. 

            “You act like you’ve never seen a room before.”

            “I’ve never seen a room like this. It’s just so, so…”

            “Nice?”

            I stopped talking and crossed my arms. “So, is this the plan? Woo me with nice hotels and good food, hoping I’ll stop fighting you?”

            “Don’t flatter yourself. I enjoy the nice life. I don’t plan on suffering because I’m always on the road.”

            Just as he finished talking. One of the men who had followed us in another car opened the door and brought in the witch who was in the car with me. This was really the first chance I have had to look at her. She was short, maybe around 5 feet tall. She had straight black hair that hung just below her shoulders. The man pushed her further into the room then walked to the couch and turned on the television. Both me and the other witch stood, I wasn’t really sure what to do. I didn’t have access to my powers and Edwin had confiscated my books last time he caught me. 

            “Well I’m probably going to die of boredom and sitting in front of the TV will probably kill my brain cells so is there something, I don’t know, educational to do. Is there a book I could read or something?”

            Edwin, who had been standing next to the couch, moved over to a familiar looking bag. I gasped. “If you promise to shut up and leave me alone so I can have a moment of peace without having to think about you, you can have your books back.” He stood in front of me with my bag. 

            “Fine. Is there somewhere I can take these books?”

            “First door on the left is your room.” He pointed behind him, “There are no windows so, no escape.”

            “Fantastic.” I grabbed my bag, walked down the hall to the room, and slammed the door and locked it. With my luck, he probably had a key. 

            I dumped out my bag and saw all my babies. All of my magic books were still here, my old journals, and my new journal with a pen. I started journaling, beginning with my chase through the woods. Once I finished documenting my latest experiences, 2 hours had passed. I decided to move on to reading. I pulled out a defensive spell book. The first spell in there was the one I needed earlier. “Well that’s no good now,” I said out loud. 

            I kept reading through the book. I figured I would need these soon. Then I heard a key turn the lock in my door and I rolled my eyes. I must have been here for 3 or 4 hours. I sat up on the bed and set my book aside, laying it open on the pages I was reading. Edwin walked in. “Dinner’s here.”

            I stood up to walk out but he moved in the room. He skipped over my journal and picked up the defensive magic book. “A bit of light reading?” He said. 

            “Gotta keep my mind fresh.” I replied. 

            He picked it up on the page I was reading. It was a sleeping spell, one that could help me escape. “Well, well, well. It seems you haven’t quite given up your hopes for escape. I guess I’ll have to confiscate this until further notice.”

            I sighed angrily and sat down on the bed. “What do you expect me to do? Peacefully comply to this kidnapping situation?”

            “That would be the day,” He sighed. 

            Edwin grabbed my arm, lifted me off the bed, and threw me into the hall. I slammed into the wall as a result. “Ugh. Do you always have to be such a brute?” I yelled at him.

            “When you learn to listen maybe I’ll be nice to you.”

            He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the dining room. “Sit.” He ordered me. 

            “Sorry, I’m not a robot.”

            He pushed me down into the chair. “There, now shut up and eat.”

            I crossed my arms angrily refusing to eat the food in front of me. Edwin sat down and started to eat. The other witch looked back and forth from me to him warily. I could tell she had a bad experience with resisting. She ate quietly. Edwin slammed down his silverware and she jumped in fear. “Do you have a need to make everything so difficult?”

            “I don’t give in to terrorists. It’s a policy I have.” I replied. 

            I had a bad history of being snarky with the immortals but the more I infuriated them the quicker I would find a weakness. “We leave first thing in the morning. Your options are to eat now or don’t eat until tomorrow. Understood?”

            I angrily picked my fork up and began eating. The food was delicious, but I refrained from showing that I was enjoying it. I ate quickly, finishing before everyone else. “May I leave the table?” I asked sarcastically. 

            “Mmmh not just yet. I want to know more about you Adalaide. I mean I know of you; I have been chasing you all these years.”

            “Stalker much?” I replied. The black-haired witch shot a look at me, practically begging me to stop. I ignored her.

            Edwin kept his composure, “I mean we have your mother still. I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to come back with us. Then again, your mother did leave you all alone in those woods the day you were born.”

            “My mother was protecting me.”

            “Was she? I mean come on, she left you there with no guarantee someone would find you.”

            “Shut up, Edwin.” I said through my teeth.

            “Maybe she wanted you to die. She never wanted you in the first place. She didn’t want to be married, let alone be burdened with a kid.”

            “Shut up!” I started getting angrier. I felt so much energy building up inside of me, like it was about to explode. The lights began to flicker a bit. Edwin ignored it, continuing to banter me. 

            “Maybe she thought the world was better off. I mean you are a freak of nature. Part witch, part immortal. Your mother probably thought she was doing the world a favor.”

            “I SAID SHUT UP!” Just then the power cut completely, and I heard a shattering noise coming from the living room. 

            Edwin rushed to see what had broken. The other witch and I followed. The television had broken along with several vases and the glass coffee table. Edwin turned to look at me. The witch began to retreat, shaking her head in fear. This time I’m not sure who she was scared of, me or him. 

            Edwin grabbed me and began to drag me towards the door. I was still confused as to what happened. We walked, though it felt like running as I was being dragged along by my arm. He threw me into the backseat of the car on the passenger side. The other witch climbed in next to me. Edwin sped off and started texting on his phone. “Great” I thought. “We’re back in this damn car.”