Thirty-Four…

Thirty-Four: Witch

This chapter begins with Vaclav’s POV, then switches to Aubrey’s.

The witch in this chapter is ‘played’ by Lillian Harris, one of Nick and Lila’s daughters from my Riverview story. Her outfit is by SimCredible at TSR.

Warning: contains several F-bombs.

Lucius discovered the area of Shadowvale where the witch frequented, but Vaclav went alone to see her.

He sprinted up a mountain after spotting her near its peak.

He paused and gazed upward.

The witch returned his gaze, her eyes like polished red marbles.

He continued up the steep incline. Fog twisted and curled like snakes around his ankles.

“Are you the fledgling bitch working for the shadows?” he asked.

She glared at him.

“Come closer, so I can speak to you.”

“Certainly.” She stepped down.

“Reverse the spell on the talisman,” he demanded.

“I can’t do that,” she chuckled. “The Shadows would have my head on a silver platter.”

“I’ll tell you one more time… reverse the spell on the talisman.”

His heart was dying inside, pieces of it scattered since catching Aubrey with his son. His grief wouldn’t allow any bullshit from the witch. There was no patience nor compassion left within him.

“And I’ve already told you, I can’t.”

He lunged at her.

They wrestled to the edge of the cliff.

It was as easy as overpowering a gnat.

He held her down.

“Reverse the spell, or you die.”

“I’m a witch, remember?” she rasped. “I’ll curse you, your children, and your children’s—”

“No, you won’t. Shawn already told me your powers are weak. I also learned that whatever powers you have are no match for an elder vampire.”

He clutched her and pushed her closer to the edge.

“Okay, you prick. I’ll reverse the spell.”

Vaclav rose.

                                                                 …

Beads of light exuded from her fingertips. Without chanting any spell, the beads floated to the talisman. It turned bright white in her hand.

In only a few moments, the talisman would be back to normal.

Aubrey was sleeping on the lounger when Vaclav returned.

“Aubrey,” he whispered. “Wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered open.

Vaclav held the magical amulet in his hand.

“A witch had placed a spell on it, so I forced her to reverse it. Now you may wear it again,” he said, his voice sounding weary.  

But Aubrey wasn’t worried about the talisman as much as she worried about their marriage.

“Put it on. And this time, don’t take it off.”

“Vaclav, do you believe me about Jakub? Jakub came in here pretending he was you. I swear to God I didn’t know.”

“Please. Put the necklace on.”

“You’re not going to leave me, are you? I didn’t know he wasn’t you!”

“Just… turn around so I can put the necklace on you.”

Finally, she turned. Vaclav placed the chain around her neck. Tears streamed down her face.

The inevitable was about to happen. She knew it. And it was precisely the outcome that Jakub and Shawn had hoped for.

“Now you’re protected again. You’re free to do as you wish, to go anywhere you want,” he said.

But I don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t want to do anything. I only want you.

She faced him again.

He pulled her into an embrace, kissing her.

“Good-bye. I… love you,” he said, his voice breaking. But instead of leaving, he ravaged her lips again.

“Don’t leave,” she begged. “I’m sorry about Jakub.”

“It’s not just about Jakub.”

“Then what?” she cried.

“I’m going to meet with the rest of my clan members. We’re going to discuss what to do about the Shadows.”

“Shawn is their new leader,” he mentioned on the way out.

Shawn? Their new leader?

Just then, Reznik toddled into the bedroom.

He said something she never thought he would.

“Mommy?”

Two days expired.

Aubrey’s depression was like a dark cloak wrapped around her, and she couldn’t get free.

She couldn’t wear the talisman, despite all Vaclav’s trouble in getting the spell reversed. It hurt too much to look at it. She saw Vaclav’s face in the amulet; his bright eyes, beautiful, full lips and glowing skin.

She vowed she’d wear it soon, once her melancholy lifted.

She stared at the television. Vaclav bought it after she once complained his house had no electronics… aside from his laptop computer.

Then she gazed at her son. Her children were the silver lining in the cloud of doom.

And Reznik finally called her ‘mommy’, ironically because he was upset when his father left.

Katerina squealed as she played with a toy.

Then thoughts of a possible pregnancy invaded Aubrey’s mind… yet again. Her imagination ran wild: Jakub’s son or daughter would look just like Kat or Reznik.

And Vaclav would never forgive her.

Aubrey went to the very same place where she received a DNA test.

“Do you give out the morning after pill?”

“I’m sorry but no. We don’t do that here.”

Why was she smiling? It was beyond annoying.

“Can you draw my blood to see if I’m pregnant?”

“If you were asking for the morning after pill, then it would be about 7 days too early for a blood test to detect the pregnancy hormone.”

Fuck!

“Look, I’m desperate. There’s this… guy who wasn’t who he pretended to be. I had sex with him two days ago. I cannot have his baby! I just can’t!”

“I’m sorry, but there’s just nothing I can do. We don’t perform any kind of abortions here, and you’ll have to wait for a blood test.”

“Yeah. Okay,” Aubrey muttered with a sinking heart.

She started to leave.

…but then decided not to.

WTF is Jakub doing here?

She turned and headed back into the clinic area. Then she went into the restroom.

She wrenched the soap dispenser from the wall; then smashed it against the mirror.

Hopefully the doctor didn’t hear the shattering.

Carefully, she removed a shard of glass.

                                                           …

Okay, you fuckwad. Come and get it!

He strolled over and put his arms around her.

“You know you liked me fucking you, didn’t you?” he said.

You wish.

She let him kiss her.

“Please don’t get rid of my baby,” he sarcastically said. “We can be one big happy family… you, me, Vaclav, all our children.”

She stifled the urge to laugh.

He kissed her again as her hand slid down to her pocket.

Surreptitiously, she edged the shard to his back.

With one quick thrust, the weapon was buried in his flesh.

He grimaced and grunted.

“That almost hurts, Aubrey.”

He backed away from her and reached for the shard.

“It’ll just take a sec to get this out,” he said.

Jakub was completely unfazed, which shocked and infuriated Aubrey.

She watched as he pulled it out.

Unbelievable.

Jakub tossed the shard to the side and leapt at Aubrey.

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that if you really want to hurt me,” he snarled.

“Go fuck yourself.”

Jakub clenched his fists. Aubrey closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable.

But someone pulled him off.

Who was he?

To her astonishment, Aubrey realized he was a Shadow.

Jakub began fighting with him.

“You’re a coward,” he said. “Is that all you can do? Hurt girls?”

Enraged, Jakub spun upward trying to kick the Shadow.

He missed.

“Nice try, Angel,” he mocked.

Jakub looked like he was going to spit bullets.

Meanwhile, the sun was coming up.

Aubrey didn’t care about Jakub, but she worried about the dark hero.

With no further word, Jakub backed away and raced back to the hole he crawled from.

The dark hero didn’t leave just yet.

“I’m sorry to rush off, but you know… the sun and vampires don’t mix,” he said.

Aubrey nodded and said, “thank you for helping me.”

Just before leaving, he blew her a kiss.

Her heart fluttered.

Her heart’s reaction to his flirtation was surprising. After all, she was in love with Vaclav. Did that make her a tramp? A slut? A witch?

                                                             ****

Thanks for reading! ☺