The Cost of Betrayal

Chapter Ten

    Maura stared in disbelief as Birsha faded from everyone's view, how did he do that? The teacher was scribbling notes at a ridiculous pace, no one in their coven had ever had this ability before. He knew that Damara and Ferox were simply green witches. Not there was anything wrong with that, he just wasn't expecting their child to have such a rare ability. He would need to go to the elder council with this information. Birsha just may be the one to save their struggling coven. 

    He was beginning to get worried that maybe Birsha disappeared permanently when the young man reappeared. He looked as stunned as the rest of them. 

    The two trouble makers from the back of the class were rubbing their hands together, they wanted to learn this power. They were going to see to it that this new kid was their friend, no matter what. 

    The blonde flirt was eyeing Birsha with even more interest now. This boy had the potential to be very powerful, and she wanted nothing more than a way to get out of this podunk coven and move to a bigger better place. Like somewhere in the United States, Las Vegas sounded amazing. 

    Birsha looked around the classroom, disappointed that he was no longer with that mysterious man. Where had he gone? And who was that man? He was powerful and he wanted to learn all he could from him. Somehow he had to get back there. 

    The teacher nodded to Birsha, "Where did you go? What can you tell me?" 

    Birsha decided to leave it vague, he didn't want the teacher knowing about the meeting he had. "I, uh, ended up in the woods. Not far from here." 

    The teacher raised his eyebrow, "Do you have proof of being able to leave the grounds?" 

    Birsha smiled and reached into his pocket, he had grabbed a few leaves from one of the trees as he had followed the servant. He handed them to his teacher, whose brows furrowed in concern. "Your parents are green witches, are they not?" 

    Birsha nodded, "Yes, of course." 

    "Then you should have been able to identify these leaves," he said simply. 

    Birsha nodded, "Yes, they belong to a Buckthorn tree and these belong to the sandbox tree," he said pulling out the seeds he had in his other pocket.

    The teacher nodded, "Yes, but you shouldn't have picked those to bring in." He scolded gently, "You could have injured yourself. Those are very poisonous plants if not picked correctly. 

    "Sorry, sir," was all he said. 

    The teacher nodded, carefully placing the leaves and seeds in a bag, "I'll send these down to Miss Merremia. She'll be able to dispose of them properly." The teacher would need to speak with the botanist because there were none of these plants so close to the school. And he has never seen a sandbox tree in their forest, ever, if that was what this was. 

    The bell rang, dismissing the class, Birsha was gathering his books when the boys approached him. 

    "Hey, man, you need to teach me that power. That was wicked cool," the bigger of the two started. 

    Birsha eyed the boys, they looked eager to get their hands on this gift. He wondered what he could get out of them for it. "Sure, I mean, it'll cost ya. I'm not gonna do it for free." 

    The thinner of the boys smirked, "Name your price, my parents are on the council here and I can get anything you want. I just want that power." 

    Birsha thought for a few minutes, "I want a hundred bucks." He hoisted his backpack over his shoulder. One hundred dollars would be a big help to his parents. 

    The thinner boy scoffed, "That's all?" 

    Birsha nodded, "Yeah, that's all." 

    He held out his hand, "Done." 

    The boys shook on it, "Meet me in the forest behind the circle tonight. I'll teach you there." 

    The blonde girl quickly caught up to the boys as they were leaving the classroom, "Hey, can I get in on this, too?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at Birsha shamelessly. 

    Birsha pretended to think about it as he looked down at her blouse, catching a glimpse of her cleavage.  "Yes, but I don't this for free." 

    The girl shrugged, "Name your price." 

    "A date." 

    She smirked, "Done." She turned and walked away from the boys her hips swaying back and forth, almost hypnotizing the three of them. 

    "Damn, money and s*x!" the other two cheered. "You have got major game!" 

    Birsha turned to the boys, he was angry that they thought he was going to just lay the girl. He wasn't like that, his mother raised him better. "Do not talk about her like that," he snapped at the boys. Their expressions changed rapidly from jubilation to shock as they could see the anger rising in Birsha like a volcano ready to burst its top. 

    "Sorry man," the thin one mumbled. 

    Maura was watching the interaction the boys were having and shook her head. She felt something boil up inside her over Chastity getting a date with Birsha. She wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't like it. Not one bit.  "Chastity, yeah, right there isn't a damn thing chaste about that girl." 

    *************

    Maura fell into a fitful sleep that night, her dreams tormented by the images of the day. She wished she understood why she was so bothered by everything that Birsha does with that other girl? As she struggled with those feelings, she fell deeper into sleep and began to dream. 

    "Young lady," a feminine voice called softly. "I need your help," she called desperately. 

    Maura looked around, she couldn't see the woman calling her. 

    "Who's there?" Maura called. She was walking through a fog-filled room, she could hear cries of anguish and pleas for mercy. Along with the cracking of whips and drips of water. The room smelled awful as if it were full of rotten eggs. 

    "Help me, please," the woman begged. 

    "How can I help you?" Maura called, she was worried that the poor woman was hurt or worse being held captive.

    Maura walked closer to the source of the voice, "Where are you?"

    "Please hurry," she begged, "I don't have much time." 

    Her pleading voice broke Maura's heart. Maura moved quickly through the fog, searching for the woman. She gasped as the woman came into sight. Her body, tethered to the wall, made Maura's stomach turn. She knelt down and tried to remove the shackles from the woman's wrists when she stopped her. 

    "No, this is my punishment," the woman said tearfully. 

    Maura didn't understand, "Where are we? What's your name?" 

    The woman smiled wistfully, "My name doesn't matter, but what does is that you don't reject Birsha. He needs your strength and guidance." 

    "Reject? What do you mean?" Maura was confused. 

    "You must be there for him," the woman cried as the shackles tightened slightly and turned red hot, leaving burns on her skin. She did her best to stifle her gasp of pain, she couldn't alert the guards or worse Hecate. 

    "What did you do that you are being punished like this?" Maura asked.

    "I interfered," she whispered. "Now, please go. Remember what I said, please." 

    Maura nodded, "I won't." 

    Maura jerked awake at the sound of her alarm ringing. She looked around, relieved to be safe in her own room. She didn't know where she had gone in her dream, but she knew that she never wanted to go there again.