1692, Salem, Massachusetts
“Jane! Get back here!” I playfully yelled to my sister.
“You’ve got to catch me first!” she giggled.
I ran through the fields next to our house, trying to catch my six-year old sister. My dark blonde hair blowing through the wind, not having a care in the world. I loved it when our parents let us play outside.
“Girls! Come here!” our mother called. I could see her standing in the back doorway of our house. We ran inside so that we wouldn’t face our mother’s wrath. She once put a whole bar of soap in my mouth because I refused to do what she asked. After that happened, I swore I would never disobey her again. As soon as we entered the house, my mother quickly glanced around outside before slamming the door shut and locking it.
“Mother? Is something wrong?” I asked.
She turned to my sister, “Jane, can you set the table for dinner?” As soon as she asked, my sister ran off to the kitchen. She was always so obedient and polite around my parents, but when she was around me, she was a nuisance. She always tried her best to annoy me.
My mother turned to me and I could see the seriousness in her face, “Alice, I need to tell you something. This is very important and I need you to listen to me as if you are an adult, which I know is hard to do. You are eight now, so I need you to act like it. I know I can trust you with this information, “ she took a deep breath, ”We are being hunted down. The Fulcio coven found the white oak tree and are making weapons out of it. They have already started killing witches,” my mother said.
It took a while for my brain to comprehend what my mom had just said. How were they able to find it? The white oak tree was our only weakness. We are a part of the Venustas coven, which is a group of immortal witches that have been hiding and protecting the white oak tree for centuries. And for centuries the Fulcio coven has been trying to find the tree so that they can kill us all. Because they’re not immortal, they think we shouldn’t be immortal. They have reasoned that the only way to stop us from being immortal is to kill us. As long as we hid the tree from them, we’re safe. Now that they’ve found it, they will stop at nothing until they exterminate every one of us.
“What are we going to do?” I fidgeted with my dress. I don’t know what she wants me to do. I’m only eight, which means I’ve only been practicing my magic for a short time. I’m not capable of protecting myself from such powerful witches.
She placed her hand on my shoulder, “It will be okay, Alice. We are going to hide and your father and I are going to protect you and Jane. We have prepared for this and will survive, but you can’t tell Jane. Understand? She is only six, she is too young and doesn’t understand the severity of the situation.”
“I understand, mother,” I nodded.
“Good, and one more thing,” she paused and closed her eyes, “if they somehow find us, you have to get Jane and escape to the closest village.”
I gasped, “But what about you and father?” I can't fathom the idea of them being killed. Why would she even say that?
She pulled me into a hug, “Don’t worry about us. You and Jane are the ones that need to survive. You have to protect your sister,” she pulled back and looked straight into my eyes. I realized how serious the situation was and knew that I would protect my sister at all costs.
“I will protect her, Mother,” I agreed. I need to be strong for both my mother and my sister.
~
The next day Jane and I were playing inside with our games. My mother forbid me from taking Jane outside to play because of the Fulcio coven’s hunt. The ordinary townspeople have started calling the executions the “Witch Trials.” If only they knew how accurate they were.
“Alice,” my sister whined, “Why can’t we play outside?”
“I told you. Mother said that a disease is circulating throughout the village. She doesn’t want us to get sick.” I explained. Before I went to bed, my mother had told me to tell Jane this story if she asked to go outside. I didn’t like lying to my sister, but it was the only way to keep her from becoming suspicious.
She crossed her arms and pouted, “Fine...Can we at least play naughts and crosses?”
~
I was sleeping when a loud bang woke me up. It sounded like the door was kicked open. All of a sudden I heard a scream...It sounded like my mother. The only people who could make my mother scream like that was the Fulcio coven. I remembered what my mother had told me before and started to inch my way out of my bedroom. I froze as soon as I heard a voice.
“Thanks to the other witches in your coven, you are being arrested on the charges of witchcraft,” I heard a deep, menacing voice tell my parents.
“We have done nothing wrong! You can’t arrest us because of an accusation!” my father exclaimed.
“Then you must not remember when you used your magic to make the crops grow or cure your neighbor or build your house. All of those things could not have been done by an ordinary person. You thought we wouldn’t know, but we did. We always know,” he paused and it sounded like he flipped a table over, “So I say again, you are both arrested for witchcraft.”
I started to move towards the steps to go downstairs. I needed to help my parents. If I don’t do anything, I might never see them again. I wanted to run down those steps and use my magic to hurt those evil people. Those monsters who wanted to take my parents away from me. I almost did it. But then I remembered Jane. I couldn’t leave her by herself. If something happened to my parents and I, she would be left all alone. I couldn’t do that to her. I have to protect her from the demons downstairs. After I made my decision, I sprinted as quietly as I could to Jane’s room. I saw her blonde head poking out from under the covers.
“Jane!” I shook her shoulder, “Wake up!”
“What…” she rubbed her eyes, “What’s happening?”
“It’s a long story and I don’t have enough time to tell you, but we have to go to Rowley Village. “
“Wha-why?” She pulled her blankets off.
I grabbed her hand and led her to the door, “Mother told me to take you there. Mother and father will meet us there,’ We walked out into the hallway. I just lied to my sister. I have no idea if mother and father will survive, let alone escape. But if I am going to convince Jane to come with me I have to lie to her.
“Why don’t we check upstairs for those kids of yours?” I heard the booming voice say from downstairs.
“Jane, we need to go now!” I pulled her down the hallway and we started running to the window. Unfortunately, we were on the second floor, so I made the rash decision to use my magic.
“I’m going to use my magic to get us out of the window,” I leaned down and whispered to Jane.
She nodded and we ran up to the window at the end of the hall. I yanked the window open and whispered, “Volare.” Jane and I immediately started floating. We moved through the window and down to the ground.  As soon as we landed, we ran through the fields to the woods in our backyard. When we were hidden by trees, we slowed down.
“Are you okay?” I knelt down next to Jane to see her face. I pushed the hair out of her face and put it behind her ear.
“I-I think so,” she trembled. I could see her trying not to cry. She was only six and doesn’t know what’s going on, of course she’s scared. I promised myself that I would tell her the whole story as soon as we got to Rowley Village.
“Don’t worry. I am going to take care of you.” I wrapped my arms around her waist, picked her up, and we started our journey to Rowley Village and, unbeknownst to us, the rest of our lives.
~
2016, New York City, New York
“Jane! I’m going to get breakfast!” I yelled to my little sister sleeping upstairs. She was the type of person that loved to sleep in. Sometimes, I came back from my volunteering at the hospital and she was still sound asleep. She drives me crazy.
“Okay, just get me some donuts,” I heard her groan. At least she was awake.
I grabbed my purse from the table in the hall and left our apartment. Everyday I walk down to this little bakery on our street to get Jane and I breakfast. Ever since we ran away from Salem, my sister and I have been inseparable, moving to a new town every few years because the people become suspicious if we stay too long. But, hey, that’s the price you pay when you’re immortal. Although we have only heard rumors about the Fulcio coven here and there, we have yet to encounter them. I hope we never see them. After what they did to my parents…
I smacked into another person, interrupting my thoughts. I quickly looked up, seeing a dark-haired man with stormy blue eyes.
“Watch where you’re going,” he grumbled before I could even apologize.
People in New York are so rude. I quickly moved on from the encounter and walked into the bakery.
“There’s my favorite customer! I was worried you weren’t going to show,” Jeremy, my best friend, exclaimed.
“And miss seeing you make a fool out of yourself? Never,” I walked up to the counter and ordered my usual and Jane’s donuts.
“Are you going to the hospital today?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Both Jeremy and I volunteer at the hospital down the street and I was planning on going there today. That's where we met. When Jane and I moved to New York, I decided to volunteer at the hospital. There, I met Jeremy, but I didn't want to form any ties because of my magic. I don’t want to form a relationship if I have to move in a few years. But, he kept wearing me down and eventually, I let him in. Now we're best friends, although I don't what I'm going to do when I have to move. But I don't have to think about that right now.
I leaned against the counter, “Yeah, I was gonna go after breakfast.”
He gave me my food, “Cool, maybe I'll see you there later. Say hi to Jane for me!”
“Will do. Bye,” I waved goodbye and walked outside. As soon as I walked back to our apartment, I set my purse and food on the table and sat down, “Jane! Your donuts are here!”
She walked out of her room, showered and dressed. “Did you see Jeremy?” she asked.
“Yeah. He says hi.”
She ripped open the box, “Oooo, I love these ones!” She lifted up a pink colored donut with rainbow sprinkles.
I rolled my eyes, “Sometimes I think you're still six years old,” I walked back to the door, “Enjoy your donuts! I’m going to the hospital.”
“Be back in time for dinner!” she said with a mouthful of food.
She definitely acts like she's still six, even though she’s three centuries old. Because we’re immortal, we continue to age until about our twenties. Then we look that way forever, never aging. It has its upsides and downsides, but I would could never imagine another way to live.
I left the apartment and walked to the hospital. When I got there, I walked toward the children’s section. That’s the part of the hospital where I volunteer. I chose to work at a hospital because I can use my magic to heal people. Although I have to be extremely discreet about it, I use my magic to help the people here and save them from sickness. Even though I could get caught, it’s worth the risk to be able to help people.
~
I spent the whole day at the hospital before I started heading home. When I got home, the first thing I noticed was the organization. Something was off, the apartment was too neat. Normally, when I leave my sister home by herself, there is a pile of dishes in the sink, clothes on the floor, and blankets all over the couch. But everything was perfectly placed in its correct spot. It was too perfect...
“Jane? Are you home?” No one answered. I was starting to get worried. Jane would’ve told me if she was going somewhere.
I walked around the house, trying to find her or something that would tell me where she was. She probably just went to get some food. But I needed to check her room first, just in case. I walked into her room and froze. There were letters floating in the air. Only a witch could make that happen. The letters read, “You thought you could hide from us...You were wrong. We always know.”
That last line has haunted my dreams for decades. It was one of the last things the Fulcio coven told my parents before they took them. The Fulcio coven was here. And from what is looks like, they’ve taken my sister.
~
I’m all alone. I have no one else. I have no one to go to for help. There’s Jeremy, but I can’t tell him about my magic. It will be too hard for him to comprehend and he wouldn’t be able to help even if he knew. The Fulcio coven can only be defeated by another coven of witches, not one witch and a human. God, what am I going to do? I need to find someone to help me, but I don't know of anybody from the Venustas coven. Suddenly there was a loud bang on the door. That could be the Fulcio coven again, looking for me. There was another bang at the door. I ran into my bedroom and locked the door. I heard a voice cast the unlock spell. Oh no, they're going to find me and I won't be able to get my sister back. I have failed my parents. I slid to the floor and closed my eyes. The door to my bedroom was opened using a spell… I slowly opened my eyes, needing to know the face of the person who had taken my sister. I immediately saw stormy blue eyes...It was the rude man I bumped into earlier.
“You're the one who took my sister?” I jumped up.
“Took your sister? No. I'm the one who is going to help you save her,” the mysterious man said.
“What are you talking about? You just barged into my apartment! And you think I'm going to trust you with saving my sister?” Who does this guy think he is? “Who are you anyway?”
“I’m Daniel and I’m a Venustas witch,” he stuck out his hand as if for me to shake it, which I refused to do. I didn’t trust this guy yet.
“I thought there weren’t any Venustas witches left? I thought that the Fulcio coven killed them all during the Witch Trials?”
“There are actually a lot like you. Hiding, surviving, moving.”
“How do you know so much about me?,” I crossed my arms. I felt he was hiding something from me. How could he know so much about my life?
“I know a lot of things. And I'll explain everything to you if you let me help you find your sister.”
“Why? You don't know me. Why do you want to help me?” I put my hands on my hips.
“I actually know you more than you think,” he leaned against the door frame.
“Wait, what?”
“I guess I'll start from the beginning. My family and I are part of the Venustas coven, just like you. When the Salem Witch Trials started, my family and I moved to Rowley Village. We weren't worried about the Fulcio coven arresting us because we knew they would find plenty of witches in Salem. Then you and your sister came to our village and we knew that the Fulcio Coven would follow. We started packing our things and planning our journey, but the night before we were to leave, they took my parents. I was able to escape, but I was eight, the same age as you were. And I didn't know what to do or where to go. So, I followed you and your sister. When you left a city, I left a city and went where you went. “
“You’ve been following us for three centuries?”
“Umm, yeah,” he scratched the back of his head, “but in my defense, I didn't have a sister that I could travel with. I only knew of you guys and you were Venustas witches, so I knew that I could trust you.”
“How come I never saw you in Salem?”
He moved from the door frame to move closer to me, “I lived on the other side of the village and my mother was constantly paranoid that the Fulcio coven was going to get us, so she kept me inside all of the time.”
I nodded, “Okay. And you're going to help me find my sister how?” I still wasn’t sure if I should trust him.
“Right. Have you ever heard of the Reperio spell?”
“Of course, that's the locator spell.”
“Have you ever done it?”
“Are you serious?” I exclaimed, “It takes a ton of witches to do it. It’s a very powerful spell.”
“Well, we better start practicing because that's how we’re going to find your sister,” he smirked.
“Are you sure that's the only way?”
“I would tell you if there was another,” his face turned serious.
~
“Just concentrate!” Daniel yelled. We were sitting on the floor around my living room table. This spell is one of the hardest spells to do and for some reason Daniel thinks that I, a witch who never received proper training, would be able to do it. But because I haven’t succeeded yet, he’s getting frustrated with me.
“I can't do it when you keep yelling at me!” I rubbed my hands around my face, trying to relax and focus. I took a deep breath and thought of my sister. I was going to get it this time. I needed to find her sooner, rather than later.
“Reperio, repeto, requiro, expiscor,” I chanted. Daniel grabbed my hands and started chanting it with me. All I could think about was my sister. Us playing in the fields behind our house in Salem, moving away from Massachusetts for the first time, leaving the country and traveling Europe, finally coming back to live in New York, meeting Jeremy, and eating at the bakery. A blast of wind shot out of our hands and swirled around us. It was like being in the middle of a tornado that was made of green and yellow sparks. All of a sudden a blurry image formed in my mind. There was a dark room that had rusted chains attached to the floor. My eyes followed the links until they landed on the body chained up. Jane! She was sprawled on the floor, dirt and grime covered her body, her hair had turned brown because of the filth, and bruises were all over her. The image hurt my heart. What have they done to her? I am going to find whoever did this to her and make them pay. Nobody hurts my sister and gets away with it. Then the image started fading. I had to find something that told me where she was. I searched the walls looking for anything that could give me a hint. Then I saw a barred window above Jane’s head where I could faintly see a sign that said Mr. Magic’s Fortune Telling. As soon as I saw that, the image dissolved and the wind died down.
“Are you okay?” Daniel met my eyes with concern, “Did you find her?”
“Yeah, they’re keeping her at Mr. Magic’s Fortune Telling, wherever that is. Kinda makes sense that witches would hide out at a fortune telling place though,” I grimaced at the thought of my sister suffering as we speak, “It was awful, I saw her tied up and bruised.” I closed my eyes at the thought. “We need to go find her,” I started grabbing my keys and purse from the ground.
“Alice, I don't think that's the smartest decision,” he placed a hand on my arm.
I set my stuff down, “Then what do you suggest we do?”
“I think that we should take the night off and look for her in the morning.”
“But what if they do something to her?” I couldn’t fathom the idea of anything more happening to my sister.
“She’ll be okay for now. I’ve run into the Fulcio coven many times throughout the years and they’ll try to get information out of her first. They think that their life’s mission is to destroy the Venustas coven, so they will stop at nothing until they hunt down every single witch in your coven. They’ll try to get names from your sister first, but since she doesn’t know any, we don’t have much time. If we leave in the morning, we’ll have enough time to track them down, save your sister, and leave New York.”
I tried to calm down my breathing. Millions of thoughts swirled through my brain. I closed my eyes, trying to relax. I’ll be no help to my sister if I’m tired and can’t think straight. I need rest. I opened my eyes once my breathing became normal and saw Daniel walking towards the door. “Where are you going?” I started walking to where he was heading.
He turned to face me, “I’m going home to get some rest.”
“Can you sleep here?” I whispered, “I’m just afraid that the Fulcio coven will come after me now because they have my sister,“ I rushed the words out. What am I doing? I just met this guy today and I’m already asking him to sleep at my house? I desperately need to get some rest. “You know what, nevermind. It was stupid of me to ask.”
He let go of the doorknob and walked over to my couch. “Where do you keep your blankets?” he asked.
“You don’t have to...I’m an adult witch, I should be capable of sleeping here on my own.”
“You should be, but you’re not. Your sister was just kidnapped. Anyone would be going crazy right now. And you have a good point, the Fulcio coven is probably looking for you as we speak.” He was moving around the pillows on the couch, still trying to find the blankets.
“They’re in the dresser. Back there by the window,” I pointed to the huge dresser in the corner of my living room, “The blankets, I mean.”
He looked up at me and smiled, “Thanks.”
I smiled, “Goodnight.” I walked to my room and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillows.
~
I felt someone shaking my arm. “Alice! Wake up!”
I groggily opened my eyes. “Wha…” I sat up and rubbed my eyes, “What’s going on?,” I yawned.
“We have to go!” Daniel whispered.
“What’s wrong?” I said, suddenly awake.
“They’re here.” In this simple statement, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I jumped out of bed. “What are we going to do?”
“I’ll distract them while you sneak out.”
“What? No! I’m not going to let you get caught for me!”
“They won’t hurt me. They’re looking for you, not me.” He grabbed my arm and pushed open the door. “Go!” he whispered.
I tiptoed out the door and walked down to the end of the hall. All I had to do was sprint five feet to the door and I was free. I could see three men dressed in black throwing furniture around. If I ran to the door, they would see me. I heard something crash in my bedroom and all three men ran toward the sound. That must’ve been Daniel’s distraction. This was my chance to escape. I raced to the door, but just as I grabbed the knob I heard Daniel scream. I wasn’t going to let him die for me. He barely knows me, but is willing to give his life for me. I have to at least stop them from killing him. I let go of the door and ran to my bedroom. There were tons of different colored sparks coming out of the room. A sign that all of the witches were using their magic. I squinted to be able to see where Daniel was. He was in the middle of the room with all of the Fulcio witches surrounding him. His eyes flicked over to me and widened when he saw me standing in the doorway. I could see the conflict in his eyes. He mouthed the word “Go.” And I knew that he wasn’t sure whether he would survive. Why was he doing this for me? I decided to do what I can and chanted to word consisto. The sparks of my magic floated over to the nearest man and wrapped around him. He was now frozen. I pointed my magic to the other two men. They immediately froze too.
“Let’s go! My magic won’t hold them for long.” I raced to the door. He didn’t follow. I turned to face him, “Aren’t you coming?”
“Why didn’t you leave? They could’ve killed you.”
“They were going to kill you! After everything you’ve done for me, I wasn’t going to leave you behind to be killed,” I can’t believe he thought I was that selfish, “You know a thank you would be nice.” I finished my walk to the door and opened it.
“You’re right. Thank you. I’m just not used to having people save me. I’ve been on my own for three centuries and that’s forced me to have to save myself every time I’m in a difficult situation.” He walked up behind me and looked at me, “Let’s go find your sister.”
~
“The first thing we have to do is make a game plan.” Daniel said, grabbing a napkin from the container. We were at a 24-hour IHOP across the street from Mr. Magic’s Fortune Telling. I wanted to just barge into the store, break my sister out, and run, but Daniel, being the more practical one, thought we should come up with a strategy first.
“Okay. What do you suggest we do? Since you didn’t like my plan.” I crossed my arms on the table.
“Oh, you mean your suicide mission? That shop is filled with tons of Fulcio witches who have mastered the art of killing our kind. Sorry if I don’t think it’s the smartest idea to just barge in there. You’re just asking to be killed.” He waved his hand and grabbed a pencil out of midair. Good thing it was 2 a.m. and we were the only ones in the restaurant other than a twenty something year old waitress, who was too busy reading up on the latest gossip, and an ancient looking truck driver, who was about to fall asleep on top of his pancakes. Daniel started drawing a map on the napkin. “I say that we scope the perimeter to find your sister’s cell. You said there was a barred window in her cell, right?”
“Yeah. That’s how I was able to find out the name of the shop.”
“Good. When we find the window, we’ll combine our magic to break the bars and then grab your sister and run.”
“That’s actually a really good plan. When are we going?”
“Right now.”
~
We walked out of the IHOP and headed across the street towards the shop. Daniel grabbed my arm and lead me past the house.
“We’ll go around the house next door so that they can’t see us from the front,” he whispered and I nodded in acknowledgement. We jogged around the neighbor’s house and came up to the back of the shop.
“Are you able to see anything?” I tried squinting my eyes, but could only see the outlines of the buildings.
“Lux Lucis,” Daniel whispered and a ball of light appeared in his hand. We bent down together and searched the ground for the barred window.
“There!” I whispered. I could faintly see metal bars in the distance. We walked over to the bars and Daniel extinguished his flame.
“Ready?” he asked. I nodded. “On the count of three,” he said, “One, two, three!”
“Effringo Effrego,” we chanted. Our sparks of magic intertwined and wrapped around the metal bars. The magic created cracks in the metal and eventually they broke. As soon as the bars were gone, I jumped into the cell. My feet hit the cold, stone ground and I immediately felt around the floor for my sister.
“Jane! Jane! Where are you? It’s Alice.” I moved my hands around, trying to feel for my sister.
“Ah, the heroic Alice desperately trying to save her sister from harm,” I instantly recognized the menacing voice as the one from over three centuries ago. It was the voice that continued to haunt my dreams.
“You! You’re the one who killed my parents!” I quickly stood up, so that I wasn’t as vulnerable, “How are you still alive?”
“That’s a story for another time. I’m sure you would rather hear more about your precious little sister or your new friend Daniel.”
I had no idea what he was talking about. How did he know about Daniel? But that reminded me, I turned my head back to the window and saw resealed bars and no Daniel.
“What did you do to him?” I can’t let Daniel’s death be on my hands. He doesn’t have a part in this. After everything he’s done for me, he doesn’t deserve to die because of it.
“We haven’t done anything to him. He’s been on our side the entire time.” Even though I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was smirking. He knew that this would get under my skin.
“You’re lying. He’s the one who’s been helping me this whole time.” I refused to believe that he’s been playing double agent all this time.
“Then how come he followed you for centuries, gave us your sister’s location, and locked you up in this cell. Doesn’t seem like a very helpful partner if you ask me.”
I can’t believe this. There’s no way...But it would explain why he followed us for all this time or why he was so adamant in wanting to help my sister. It only makes sense that he’s been betraying Jane and I for centuries. No wonder why he was always so secretive, he didn’t want me to find out about his ‘work.’ He also never told me why he was so adamant in helping me save my sister because it wasn’t to actually save my sister, it was to gain my trust and capture me too. I’m so stupid. I’ve been so alone for so long that I automatically trusted the first person that seemed to care for me. How could I be so stupid?
“Well, now that you have me, what do you want from me?” I needed a way out of this mess and the only way to do that it to find out why they want me.
“Your blood. “
“What?”
“Earlier you asked how I have lived so long since I am a Fulcio witch and not a Venustas witch. Well, I weakened all of the witches left in Salem and drained their blood. Then I injected their blood into my bloodstream and it gave Venustas powers, including the immortality.”
How could someone be so selfish? He killed hundreds of innocents just so he could have immortality. And that’s what he wants to use Jane and I for! I can’t let that happen,“You are a disgusting human being. All you care about is yourself and power.”
“You think I care what you think of me? I don’t.”
If he could see me, he would see me rolling my eyes, “Where’s my sister?” I demanded.
“Good question. She’s getting experimented on,” I could sense the smirk he was wearing, he was enjoying this. And with that, I heard the cell door slam shut. I don’t know what to do. My sister is getting experimented on and the only person I thought I could trust has actually been spying on me the whole time. I sat down on the ground and pulled my knees up to my chest. I had to think of a way to get out of here and save my sister. I heard the cell door open. It must be that monster again.
“If you’ve come here to gloat about your experiments, I don’t want to hear it.” I didn’t even bother lifting my head up.
“No, actually I’ve come to get you out of here,” I snapped my head up just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Nope, Daniel was actually in my cell. How dare this traitor come near me?
“And why should I trust you? You never had the intention of helping me,” I stood up and walked over to him. He can’t think that I’d actually trust him again.
“I know that you probably hate me now, and for good reason, but I truly want to help you. There’s a lot more going on that you don’t know about and I don’t want you to be a part of it. The only way to keep you out of it is to get you and your sister out of here, so put aside your petty hatred and let me help you.”
Even though I kept telling myself that I shouldn’t trust him again, I somehow knew that he was telling the truth. No matter what he did to me, I knew that he sincerely wanted to save my sister and I. During the whole time we were together, he was constantly trying to protect me. So I walked through the door and turned to face him, “Are you coming?”
  He nodded, “Follow me. I know where they have your sister.” He started running to the other end of the hallway. I followed him into a long corridor with black doors lining the walls. We walked down the hallway and I could hear screams though every one of the doors.
“Are these all Venustas witches?” I looked at Daniel. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear the answer.
He hesitantly nodded, “Darius, the man who took your sister, thinks that he can become the most powerful man in the world if he keeps injecting himself with our blood. He’s crazy.”
“Then why are you helping him? He’s torturing our kind and you’re just sitting back and letting it happen.”
“H-h-he has-” Before he could finish his sentence, Daniel grabbed me and pulled me into an empty room. I heard tons of footsteps go past the doorway. Fulcio witches must’ve been near. He took a deep breath, “He has my parents. I didn’t escape like I told you I had. When he arrested my parents, he arrested me. And because he had my parents, he had leverage over me. He told me that he would torture my parents if I didn’t spy on you and Jane. Sometimes he would even threaten to kill them. So, I never wanted to hurt you like I did, but I tried to justify my actions with the fact that it was saving my parents. I’m sorry and if you never trust me again, I’ll understand.”
I contemplated his words for minute. For some reason, I knew that he was genuine and wanted my trust back. I get the sense that he’s been feeling guilty for a long time. I mean, the number of times he’s sacrificed himself for me gives me reason to believe that he actually cares about me, “The fact that you’re helping me right now makes me think that I can trust you. But I better not be wrong,” I smiled jokingly, “And after we save my sister, we’ll save your parents.”
“You would do that for me? Even after everything I’ve done to you?”
“Of course. Aside from the few bad, you have actually done a lot of good things for me.”
“I really appreciate it but,” he paused, “They’re not held here or anywhere else I’ve looked. Trust me, I’ve tried, but the coven won’t tell me where their keeping them because they know I’ll try to save them.”
“Then we’ll track down where the coven’s hiding them,” I touched his arm, “I promise we’ll find them.”
He nodded, “You don’t know how much that means to me. Thank you. But first let me help you. Let’s go save you sister,” We ran out the door. “If we are going to save your sister, you need to listen to me. Okay? I have been around these people for a long time. I know how they’re going to act, what they’re going to say, and how to beat them. We’ll get to Jane’s room, grab her, and go.”
“Hmph, sounds a lot like my plan,” I smirked.
He rolled his eyes, but I could see the smile on his face, “Maybe it wasn’t so stupid after all.”
We ran for a few more feet until Daniel pointed to a door on the right, “That one’s her room.”
“Let’s go,” I grabbed the knob and flung the door open. I saw Jane on a flat, metal bed. It looked like the ones they have in the horror movies. She had tubes coming out of her arms and I could see cuts all over her body. Her luscious, blonde waist-length hair was replaced with choppy, chin-length hair turned brown from the dirt. “Jane!”
She looked up, but I could see her losing consciousness, “Alice? Is that you?” she rasped.
“We need to get those tubes off of her.” Daniel started taking the tubes out of her body, while I talked to Jane, desperately trying to keep her from blacking out. The second Daniel got the tubes off, I lifted Jane off of the table.
“Let me hold her,” Daniel offered. I gave Jane to him.
“You should lead the way. I have no idea where I’m going.”
We opened the door and I followed Daniel down a bunch of corridors.
“And where do you think you’re going?” yelled Darius.
I knew it was too easy, “Daniel, take my sister back to my apartment and look after her.”
“Are you crazy? I’m not leaving you behind.”
“Daniel, this isn’t your fight. I need to fight Darius. He took my sister and now he needs to pay. Go. If you really want to win my trust back, do this for me.”
I could see the war going on inside his head, but I knew which side would win, “Fine, but you’re gonna take him down for the both of us.” Daniel ran out of the hallway, carrying Jane.
“Looks like it’s just you and me now,” I turned to Darius, “You didn’t seriously think that you could kidnap, torture, and experiment on my sister and get away with it, did you?”
“Actually, I did,” He flung his hands at me, “Laedo ledo,” he whispered.
It felt like a train hit my chest. I was flung back into the wall and crumpled on the floor. I lifted myself off the floor, “Offensio,” I shot out my hand, pointing at his feet. My sparks of magic hit his legs and he fell forward.
“You haven’t practiced that much have you? Even though you’re centuries old, you cast like you're still an eight year old,” he cackled.
“Well maybe that’s because you killed my parents!” I spat, “Percutio,” I sent the spell straight to his head. He clasped the sides of his head and groaned in pain. What does he think of my ‘eight year-old’ spells now?
“I will make you suffer just like they did. You should have seen them, all begging for mercy. Pitiful. But, not you. At least you make it interesting,” He sprang up from the ground, “Yet you still think that you can defeat me. That another difference between you and your parents. They knew that they could never defeat me! Noceo!” He flung his arms towards me and his magic covered my whole body.
I screamed. It felt like my skull was closing in on my brain. It felt like my ribs were crushing my chest and my legs were on fire. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, all I could was scream. I could feel myself losing consciousness. While I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I saw someone run in and yell, “Neco!” I saw a blast of green sparks and then blacked out.
~
“When will she wake up?” Was that Jane? How is Jane here if I’m in heaven?
“I casted a healing spell on her, so she should be waking up soon,” Daniel said.
I blinked open my eyes, but immediately had to cover them because there was too much light for them to take, “Where am I? What happened?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Daniel asked.
“Darius cast the injury spell on me, someone cast a kill spell on him, and I blacked out,” I rubbed my head. Just thinking about it caused me pain.
“Well, when I left the building after you told me to leave, I used a transporter spell to take Jane and I back to your apartment, set her down on the bed, and transported back to you. I arrived back at the hallway when you were losing consciousness,” Daniel explained.
“So you were the one who used the kill spell? You killed Darius?”
“Yeah, I just got so mad at him. He took my parents, blackmailed me for centuries, and almost killed you. I just couldn't let him live anymore,” he scratched the back of his head, “Are you mad?”
“Mad that you killed the guy who tortured my sister? No. Mad that you could've gotten killed along with me? Yes.”
“I couldn't let you get killed because of me. So I was willing to risk my life to save yours.”
“Ah, so you just didn’t believe I could defeat him,” I smirked.
He rolled his eyes and pulled me in for a kiss.
“Woah, you get kidnapped for a couple of days and miss everything,” Jane exclaimed.
We laughed, “And now that Darius is gone, we can find your parents,” I said to Daniel.
“We will, but first you need rest. You almost died today.”
“Okay, okay. I'll rest,” I smiled. For once in my life, I felt at peace. I didn't have anyone to run from anymore and I had two people in front of me that I cared a lot about. For someone who has been running for the past three centuries, life was good.