Dark Nightmares of a Lost Soul

  The Virginia Witch

  Being a writer does have its perks, helping the police solve a murder would have to top that list of fringe benefits. It is not a good thing though when you are a writer that has the ability to have conversations with ghosts. From what Maria heard, from a spirit no less, that it was in her destiny to help the Tazewell County Sheriff with their new case.

  It was an unusually hot day in October, even for Virginia standards. Maria sat on the porch swing, enjoying her husband Troy’s day off. Their children were riding bikes up and down the long driveway. The baby of the family, a one year old, was content on torturing the dogs on the porch. It was such a peaceful Saturday, but that soon ended.

  “The cops are here,” Justin said as he rode up to the porch.

  “It’s the cops,” Jessika said catching up to her brother.

  Maria looked down the driveway and saw the cruiser, slowly driving up.

  “What did you do?” She asked her fourteen-year-old daughter.

  “Nothing, duh mom,” was the loving answer from Jessika.

  Maria’s innocent nine year old, Justin said, “I didn’t do nothing.”

  She smiled and looked up at the man who stepped out of the car. Troy waited beside her.

  “Are you Maria Smith?”

  “Ahh mom, it was you,” Jessika said laughing.

  “It was not,” Maria said to her.

  Justin asked, “what did you do, mom?”

  “Nothing.” Maria looked at the sheriff and said, “yeah, I’m Maria, what’s up?”

  “I am Sheriff Lewis and this is Sheriff Johnson, we were told that ya could help us,” the tall, skinny man said.

  Maria asked him, “help with what?”

  The two sheriffs looked at each other and the short, pudgy driver named Johnson reached into the vehicle. He pulled out a book. “Do you know what this is?”

  Maria took the book from him and looked at the cover. It was all black except for a white pentacle; it looked to be very old. She opened it up and there was no cover page or content page. It was full of writing and symbols that Maria had seen before. She flipped through the book and saw descriptions, names and spells. Towards the end, Maria noticed pages torn out of the book. She shut it and handed it back to Sheriff Johnson, with a quick glance at Troy. He looked confused, but Maria knew he would be. “Why me, how did you find me?”

  “We found out that you’re a writer and that you know all about the occult cause of your research with the books you write,” Lewis said.

  “Who said?” Maria asked.

  “The librarian in Richlands,” Johnson said.

  “Ohh,” Maria glanced at Troy again, he was laughing and so was her daughter. She had done some research about the occult and being new to the area Maria did not know where anything was, so she had to ask. Her husband and daughter had been jokingly calling Maria a devil worshipper since that day.

  “Well, do you know what it is?” Lewis asked.

  “Yeah, it’s a grimoire, or another name would be the Book of Shadows, whichever you prefer,” Maria told them.

  “What does that mean?” Johnson asked.

  “It means that it’s a diary of a witch.”

  “What!” Johnson said.

  “Witches, here in Bandy,” Lewis said.

  Maria told them, “witches are everywhere.”

  “Yeah, there’s one right here,” Troy said as he put his arm around her.

  Maria gave him a dirty look, shook off his arm and said to him, “shut up.”

  “Listen, we got us a dead lady and it has to do with this stuff and we don’t know nothing about it, will ya help us?” Lewis asked.

  Maria looked at Troy; he just shrugged his shoulders, a big help he was going to be. “Ok, tell me what you know and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “May we come in?” Lewis asked.

  Troy and Maria backed up to let them unto the porch, and they walked into the house.

  “I think it would be a good idea if your children weren’t here,” Johnson said.

  She looked towards the door, Maria’s daughter with the baby in her arms and her other son stood by the door waiting expectantly. “Get out and go play, take Joey with you.”

  “Mom, I wanna hear,” Jessika said.

  “Me too,” Justin said.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Maria whispered to them as she pushed them out the door and shut it. She walked to where Troy was and sat down next to him.

  “We found a body last night,” Lewis said as he held a folder in his hand that Maria had not seen earlier. “We found the book next to her.” He began to hand her the folder and stopped, he said, “these are pretty graphic, are you sure you can handle it?”

  “Yeah, I can handle it, I already saw a man with his head blown away before,” Maria told him.

  “Oh, really?” Lewis asked.

  She nodded.

  “I suppose you can handle this, then.” Lewis handed her the folder.

  Maria opened the file, she and Troy looked at the pictures, and they were not graphic at all Maria thought. It was a photo of a woman tied to a pole; she wore a black robe with symbols that Maria could not see well enough.

  “What were they gonna do, burn her at the stake?” Troy asked.

  “We don’t know anything, we just got a phone call saying there was a dead body and we went there and saw this,” Johnson said.

  Lewis asked, “so is she a witch?”

  “Well, it appears that she is but I really can’t tell you by this picture. I would need to go and see her house on the inside,” Maria told them.

  The two sheriffs looked at each other and stood up. “Ok, let’s go,” Johnson said.

  Maria asked Jessika to baby-sit the boys, then Troy and her left with the sheriffs.

  To Maria’s dismay, she did not live far from them. They stepped out of the car and looked around. She lived in a nice blue trailer; flowers were growing everywhere. The sheriff took them to the back and saw the pole still standing, without the body of course. She was in the morgue now.

  “Did she live alone?” Maria asked.

  Lewis said, “yes.”

  “Shall we go in,” Johnson said as he led them to the front door.

  Maria walked into the trailer and saw instantly that she was a witch. She had all sorts of books about witchcraft and candles of all colors.

  “Maybe they will let you take some books for your research,” Troy said to her.

  Maria elbowed him and began to walk through the dead woman’s house. She began to feel strange and could not shake it. It was as if someone was telling her to do something. Maria decided to ignore the feeling. They stopped at the end of the hallway, a black door with symbols written in silver, blocked their way. Maria opened the door. “My guess, I’d say she was definitely a witch.”

  The black room had more silver symbols on the walls, ceiling and floor. The only light was the candles that filled the room. Drawn on the floor in more silver paint was a large pentacle and an altar sat towards the back of the room.

  Suddenly the radio went off and everyone jumped, they laughed when it was realized what had happened.

  “Lewis here.”

  A man said, “we have another body, found just like before. Ya’ll need to get to Moonlight holler, ya know where I mean.”

  “Yeah, we are on the way,” Lewis said and looked at Maria. “So will you help, this is way too much for us to understand.”

  She looked at Troy and he nodded, turned back toward Lewis and said to him, “yeah, I can help, well at least try to help.”

  “Great, let’s go,” Johnson said.

  Troy asked him, “go where?”

  “Moonlight holler, I should warn you that the body will still be there,” Lewis said.

  “What!” Troy said.

  Maria laughed, pulled him to the car and they drove away. Again, it was not far from the other murdered woman. Other police cars were already on the scene and even a state trooper, who walk
ed up to Maria and Troy.

  “Who are you, this is a crime scene and you better leave now.”

  Lewis stepped between the State Trooper and Maria, he told the other officer, “they are experts who are helping us, so step aside so we can get to work.”

  The State Trooper walked away without another word.

  Maria looked around and saw a pretty, brown little house; flowers surrounded it.

  “What’s with all the flowers?” Troy asked.

  “Remember what I said, witches love nature.” Maria told him and grabbed his hand. They walked together to the back of the house, preparing their selves to see a dead body. Maria and Troy turned the corner and saw her tied to the pole; she had long blonde hair and wore a black robe with symbols. “What was the cause of death?”

  “We don’t know, we have to wait for the autopsy report,” Johnson said.

  “Well, isn’t there a noticeable wound mark that might be the cause of death,” Maria asked.

  “No, not a single mark on either woman, perfectly flawless skin,” a man said as he walked up. “My name is Dr. Doug Bandy, the coroner.”

  Troy and Maria shook his hand, she asked, “what do you think killed them?”

  “Not a clue, my dear, not a clue,” Dr. Bandy told her. “I’m off to the hospital; you better get your pictures cause they will be taking her down soon; nice meeting you two, goodbye.”

  “Bye,” they both said after him.

  Maria watched Dr. Bandy walk away and turned toward the body again. That was when she saw her; Maria tensed and quickly looked away.

  “Yeah, I know it is difficult to see a dead body, it even bothers me sometimes,” Lewis said to her.

  Maria could not help it, she rolled her eyes and looked at Troy, Maria whispered, “this was a mistake, I shouldn’t have agreed to this, the curse has reawakened.”

  “Why, do you see her?” Troy asked.

  “Yep, she’s here,” she told him.

  Troy said to Maria, “talk to her.”

  “I can’t, not with Roscoe and Enos standing right there,” she told him.

  “Want me to get rid of them?” Troy asked.

  Maria thought for a moment, she really did not want to deal with ghosts again. Maria blocked it for so long and now it was back. She had to admit though that she was curious. “Yeah, get rid of them.”

  Troy said to the sheriff’s, “let’s check out the house and give her a minute.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be there,” Maria said and watched them walk off. She turned back to the body and sure enough, she was still standing there. “Well, here goes nothing.”

  Maria walked up to her and just stared, she did not really know what to say. Does she say, “hi, how are ya”, well that would be stupid. Maria was sure the woman was not doing well at all. Maria seen ghosts all her life but was too scared to have a conversation with them. The only thing she would say was to leave her alone. Now here she was about to make conversation with a spirit, Maria did not feel at ease about it. At least she was not deformed.

  “You did come, Maria.”

  Maria was not expecting that, and she asked, “you know me, how?”

  “We knew you since you came to Virginia, we have been watching you,” she said.

  Maria could not believe what she had heard. “Why, why me?”

  “You are one of us,” she said.

  “I ain’t a witch, sure I have some experience and done some research, but it’s not like I’m in a coven or anything.”

  “I’m not saying you are a witch, I’m talking about your powers. We share the same powers,” she told Maria.

  “Oh, so what makes me so special now?” She asked.

  “You will be able to perform the spell after we are all gone.”

  “What spell, I don’t know any spells,” Maria told her.

  “I will explain everything and then it will be up to you,” she said.

  Maria did not like where this was going, but asked anyway, “what will be up to me?”

  “Well, you can choose to help or you can walk away. If you choose to walk, then you, your family and everyone will suffer. This won’t go away on its own, you’re gonna have to fight,” she told her.

  “I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Maria said. She was right and did not like where it was going. “You talk as if I have to save the world.”

  “You do have to save the world, I’ll even go macabre and it’s your destiny.”

  “All right, what’s happening?” Maria could not believe she even asked.

  “We are a special coven, we know spells that would help people and, of course, there are others that would rather do harm,” she said.

  “Isn’t that the way it always goes,” Maria said.

  The apparition continued, and ignored Maria’s last comment, “these spells can only be performed by a special sort of person; our coven, our killer and you.”

  “Killer, who is it?” Maria asked.

  “I don’t know his name, but you will see him soon. You have that gift, too,” she told her.

  “Oh, that’s nice.” Maria now regretted that she had to ask what was going on.

  “The spells, the ancient writings were deciphered by Eve,” she said.

  “Eve, who’s that?”

  “Our leader,” the dead woman said.

  Maria asked, “the first victim?”

  “Yes, she figured out the meaning and we have performed the spell and it works.”

  “What does it do?” Maria had to ask.

  “It is a healing spell.”

  “A healing potion, cool,” she said relieved that it was not something bad.

  “It’s not a potion, it is a spell that also regenerates dead tissue,” she told Maria.

  “Are you kidding?”

  She shook her head and said, “I’m not kidding, we have the power to help people that have lost the use of their limbs.”

  “Wouldn’t it also help people that had heart attacks and brain damage?” Maria asked excitedly.

  “Yes, it would,” she said and smiled.

  “That’s wonderful, so what’s the problem?” Maria asked.

  “This man, our killer, is slightly power hungry. Wouldn’t it be a great power trip to be a leader of your very own army of the dead,” she said.

  Maria believed her jaw dropped on that comment. She did not think of that when the ghost mentioned regenerating dead tissue. “That’s great, a modern day Frankenstein. What am I supposed to do about it?”

  “Stop him,” she answered calmly.

  Maria knew her jaw dropped that time. “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

  “The spell was torn out of the book when Eve foreseen this coming. Each member of the coven, six all together, has a page of the spell,” she said.

  “What, not thirteen?” Maria had to be a smartass.

  She did not believe ghosts could give dirty looks, but she sure did before continuing, “you must collect all six pages.”

  “Then what, bury them in sacred ground,” Maria said.

  “This is not a movie, yeah I saw ‘Warlock’ too,” she said.

  Maria asked, “so what am I supposed to do with them?”

  “Keep them safe and use the spell to destroy him with his own plan,” she told her.

  “What, how do I do that?”

  “You will think of something, you always do,” she said.

  The spirit was not being much help. Maria asked, hoping the ghost would give her a straight answer, “where are the pages?”

  “Each witch has a page hidden, you will find it.”

  “Nope, guess not,” Maria thought and then asked, “who are the other witches so I can warn them?”

  She said, “they already know and they are prepared to die.”

  “The police want me to help stop the murders and you want me to wait for them all to die.” Maria could not believe what she was hearing, it was self-sacrificing bull shit.

  “Six deaths would be better than mil
lions.”

  Maria hated to admit it, but she was right.

  “Good luck, Maria,” she said and disappeared.

  Maria stood alone for a few minutes and looked at the body still tied to the pole. “I’ll do my best, I guess, not that I have a choice.” She walked into the house to find a page of the spell.

  “Did you find out anything?” Troy asked when she stepped inside the house.

  “Oh boy did I ever,” Maria said to him.

  “Well?” He asked.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Maria told him then she began to get that strange feeling again. Maria decided to go with it and walked further into the house. The cops were busy with dusting for fingerprints and looking for evidence, they did not even notice Maria and Troy.

  “What are you doing?” Troy asked as he followed her through the house.

  Maria told him, “I’m getting a page of the spell.”

  “What spell, what are you talking about?” He asked.

  “I’ll tell you later,” she said to him and then stopped in front of a black door with silver symbols. Maria opened the door and walked in, as Troy followed close behind. Strange how she knew exactly where to go; Maria walked up to the altar. It was more like a very fancy coffee table; it had thick legs that had the planets carved into the wood.

  She pressed on Saturn and a drawer under the table opened. Maria looked at Troy, he was shocked, well so was Maria. She smiled and reached into the drawer and pulled out a piece of paper with strange words written on it. Maria folded the paper and put it in her jeans pocket. “Let’s go and wait outside.

  They waited for Roscoe and Enos to finish with their investigation. Troy and Maria waited in silence. She knew Troy wanted to know what was going on but he was going to have to wait, and it was killing him.

  They did not have to wait long, soon Johnson and Lewis walked up to them. “Well, what do ya think?’ Johnson asked.

  “Don’t know much right now; well, it looks like someone is out to kill witches, but I don’t know why or who at this moment,” Maria told him.

  “Hopefully its only two witches he was after,” Lewis said.

  “Don’t count on it,” Maria said under her breath. Troy had heard it and looked at her.

  “What did you say?” Johnson asked.

  “I need to go back to Eve’s trailer,” Maria told him.

  “How did you know her name was Eve?” Johnson said as he looked suspiciously at her.

  Maria smiled and said, “her name was on the mail at her house, I saw it when we were there earlier.”

  “Oh, why do you need to go there again?” Johnson asked.

  “I want to see something, it might help.”

  “Ok, let’s go,” Lewis said.

  They drove to Eve’s house and went inside. “Wait here I’ll be right back.” To Maria’s surprise, they actually had waited. She walked to the room with the black door and went inside. Maria moved quickly to the altar and pressed Mars. The drawer opened; she grabbed the spell, folded it and put the paper in her pocket. They were still waiting at the door when Maria returned.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?” Johnson asked.

  “Uhh, yeah, the two witches that were killed were from the same coven,” Maria said to them.

  “Coven, what’s that?” Lewis asked.

  She looked at him and said, “it’s a small group of witches.”

  “Well, how would we know, we asked you for help remember,” Johnson said.

  “Oh, yeah right, sorry,” Maria said.

  “If two people from the same group have been killed, maybe there are others from this thing that is in danger,” Lewis said.

  “I don’t know,” she told them. Maria was not going to say anything else; the others wanted to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

  “Do you know how to find the others, would it be written somewhere?” Johnson asked.

  Yeah of course, the names were in the Grimoire, but Maria was not going to tell them that. She said instead, “no, I don’t, it’s pretty much a secret in covens, you know like a secret society thing.” Maria needed to get that book, in case they figure it out.

  “Damn, I wish there was something we could do,” Johnson said.

  “There is not much to do right now, it’s getting late and I want to go home to my kids,” Maria told them.

  “Yeah, we’ll take you home,” Lewis said.

  They pulled into the driveway within minutes, before Maria got out of the car she said, “let me know if another one dies, I will need to go to their homes and see if I can figure this out before it’s too late.”

  “Yeah, we’ll come and get you on our way to the crime scene,” Lewis said.

  “Thanks.” Maria looked toward the porch and saw her kids waiting impatiently to find out what was happening. She knew Justin would have to be left out; he was too young.

  “Another thing, I need that book; the Grimoire. It has info on the coven; it might tell me if they kicked someone out or if there was someone who was not chosen to join the coven and pissed enough to kill.”

  “Yeah, sure, here ya go,” Lewis said and handed her the book.

  Troy and Maria got out of the car. She stood and watched them drive away, then turned around and saw her family staring; they were waiting for an explanation. Maria walked with them into the house, and tried to figure out on how to tell them what was going on.

  “Is this a joke?” Troy asked.

  The boys were in bed. Justin fought all the way but in the end, he listened to his father. Jessika sat quietly on the couch; Maria bet that she was wishing she were too young also. “Murder is pretty far to go for a joke,” Maria told him.

  “Yeah, I know but this is unbelievable,” Troy said.

  “Stranger things have happened; I have to do this, Troy, in case it is true. If I don’t and it really does happen, then we would have to deal with the live version of ‘Night of the Living Dead’, that scares me more,” Maria told him.

  All Troy could say was, “yeah, I know.”

  That night Maria saw the killer for the first time. She saw him in a nightmare and watched as he killed another witch. Now Maria knew how the other two died, though she was not too thrilled to see the life leaving her body. He smothered her with a pillow as she slept; there was no mark because there was no struggle, good old self-sacrifice.

  The man was young and actually good-looking in a sinister way. He was tall, muscular and lean, and he had long blonde hair. His eyes were a beautiful, hypnotic blue and he was dressed all in black.

  Maria watched as he killed her and carried her out to the yard where a pole was waiting. She watched as he searched the house for the spell, but came up empty handed; he did not know where it lay hidden.

  Every night, Maria watched him kill the witches off, one by one. Every day she would go with Johnson and Lewis, see their dead body in person and retrieve the spell. Maria began to wonder; “If I can see him, does that mean he could see me.”

  With each death and each piece of paper, Maria became more nervous. What was she going to do when she collected all the papers we; he was going to come after her. There was no way Maria was going to wait at home with her children as he came up the driveway. She had to come up with a place to go, away from the kids when she found that last page. There was only one place to go, away from everyone and Troy knew the area well.

  Maria told Troy about going to Laurel Creek, he agreed. “I’m not going to ask you to stay with me, but I’m scared,” she told him.

  “I began this mess with you, I’ll end it by your side,” he told her.

  “Thanks,” Maria said and hugged him; she did not want to let him go. The last witch was to be killed that night and Maria would have the last page in her hand the next day.

  “Do you know what you’re gonna do?” Troy asked.

  “No, and there is no one to help us,” Maria said.

  Troy laughed and said, “except maybe the snakes, bears, bobcats a
nd dead Indians.”

  “Laurel Creek is an Indian burial ground, of course, why didn’t I think of that before,” Maria said excitedly.

  “How could dead Indians, ohhh, I get it,” Troy said. “But can you do the spell to bring back the Indians?”

  “I sure hope so, at least we will find out if it is a joke,” Maria said.

  “Yeah, but being surrounded by zombies ain't to appealing,” he told her.

  They went to bed that night late, wanting to put it off, but Maria grew tired and knew she needed strength for the next day. Troy held her in his arms throughout the whole night as Maria watched another innocent person die.

  The next morning, Maria hugged her children good-bye and told them that she loved them. Maria watched the bus come and take Jessika and Justin to school. It was a cold morning, the mountains were full of color; fall was finally here. The mountains looked so beautiful; Maria hoped it was not the last time that she had the opportunity to see them. Maria took Joey to Debbie’s, who loved watching him every chance she got and then Maria and Troy waited.

  About nine thirty in the morning, the sheriff car pulled into the driveway. They headed to the home of the last witch in Bandy. Her name was Anna, a pretty woman with black hair. Maria glanced at her body as she walked to the house, the spirit of Anna stood near it. Maria did not react; Anna nodded her head, smiled and disappeared. Maria felt a little more relaxed, but only just a little bit. Troy and her walked into the house and found the black door with silver symbols.

  “I wonder what all these symbols mean.” Troy said.

  Maria simply said, “protection.”

  “Maybe they should have slept in here,” he said.

  “Self-sacrifice, remember,” Maria said and opened the door. They walked to the altar; Maria knelt down and found the planet. “Earth, how convenient.”

  “Of course, we are saving the earth,” Troy said.

  The two of them laughed as Maria pressed on it and the drawer opened. She grabbed the last piece of the spell and said, “let’s get out of here.” They bumped into Johnson and Lewis on their way out.

  “You have been working with us for a week, have you came up with anything?” Johnson asked

  Maria snapped, “yeah, I know who the killer is. He has long blonde hair and blue eyes. I don’t know his name but he is a witch too and boy is he pissed off right now. Don’t you worry about any more murders because their all dead, no one is left in the coven.”

  Roscoe and Enos shut right up.

  “Damn!” Troy said.

  Maria had to smile at him; the expression on his face was priceless. The cops immediately began to set up an APB on a mysterious blonde killer. “Listen, I guess I’m just a little upset by all this stuff.”

  “A little upset,” Lewis said.

  “Yeah, sorry, could you take us home, I need to rest.”

  “Sure, I’ll take you home right now,” Lewis said.

  The second Lewis pulled out of the driveway; Troy and Maria jumped into their truck and drove to Laurel Creek.

  “Are you sure he will find us?” Troy asked.

  “Yeah, I just hope it’s not right away.”

  They pulled off and got out of the truck, then started to walk on the overgrown trail deeper into the holler. Maria kept looking all around her.

  “It’s too cold for snakes,” Troy said.

  “Ok, ok,” Maria said. She had a slight phobia about snakes. Maria did relax a little and looked straight ahead. They walked to where Troy said was the most burial mounds. “Well, now we will find out if this is real.”

  Troy nodded and stepped a distance away from her and waited.

  Maria took out the papers and began to read the incantation. She somehow could read an ancient language although Maria did not know what she was saying. By the fifth page, the wind began to blow strongly all around them. It took all her strength to stand still. Maria took a quick glance at Troy and saw him struggling also. She read the last part of the spell on the sixth page, and waited.

  “Maria, we meet at last.”

  She turned around slowly, very afraid. Maria met Troy’s eyes as he too turned toward the new voice. She then saw him; he looked exactly as Maria saw him every night.

  “Let me introduce myself, my name is Damion. You don’t have to tell me who you are, I know you. Did you enjoy watching me kill those women? I sure did enjoy doing it. Ahhh, yes Maria, I saw you too.” He began to walk toward her. “Now, I believe you have something of mine.”

  Troy moved closer to Maria and put his arm around her waist. It was a nice suggestion to protect Maria but she knew if it came to a fight, no matter how brave, her husband would die.

  “It does not belong to you, it belongs to the witches that you killed,” Maria said to him.

  Damion laughed; it sent shivers down her spine. It had the same effect on Troy, Maria felt him shudder next to her.

  The warlock walked closer to them; Maria began to hope with all her might that the zombies come very quickly. Suddenly Eve appeared before Maria, separating Damion from Troy and Maria. Another witch appeared, and then another and another until six witches surrounded Damion.

  “What are they doing?” Troy asked as he watched the ghosts he could finally see.

  “I don’t know,” Maria told him.

  “You cannot protect the girl from me, eventually you all will disappear and then I will get my chance,” Damion said.

  Then it finally dawned on Maria, “their stalling him.”

  “What?” Troy asked.

  “Something is going to happen,” Maria said as she pulled him a distance away from Damion.

  Troy noticed it first; he pulled on Maria’s arm and she looked at him. He was not looking at her; he was looking to the left. Maria turned her head in the direction Troy was and said, “oh, shit, now we know it wasn’t a joke.”

  He did not say anything, so Maria turned toward him. His eyes were wide and his mouth was wide open; in awe or shock, she did not know but he looked slightly ridiculous. Maria had to laugh at the sight of him, but she sobered very quickly; more Indians came out of their mounds.

  Their skin was rotted, not as bad as she thought it would be though. They still had their long, black hair and war paint was still noticeable. In their skeletal hands were tomahawks and knives. The Indians were slowly moving towards Damion.

  Maria looked toward Damion his focus was not on her anymore. His guards were slowly disappearing, but he did not notice. The Indians closed in on him; the last of the witches had disappeared. Damion raised his hand to attack, one of the warriors chopped off his hand with one whack. He screamed; it pierced Troy and Maria’s ears so they covered them.

  One by one, the Indians hacked away at their prey. Blood and body parts flew all around, as they dodged them. The Indians covered with his blood, laughed while they dismembered poor Damion. Both, Troy and Maria had to look away, so they turned their backs on the massacre. She knew Damion deserved it, but hell, it was gross.

  When it was quiet and the whooping cries of war had ceased, they turned back around. It was a little unnerving to see what was left of Damion, but the worse of it was the Indians. They were standing there, blood dripping from their bodies, weapons raised in their hands and staring at Maria and Troy.

  “Uh-oh, now what?” Troy asked.

  “I don’t know, why the hell should I know,” Maria said. They never looked away from the Indians.

  “You’re the witch,” he said.

  “I’m not a witch,” she said. “You’re the man, do something.”

  There was a long pause; Maria knew Troy was giving her a dirty look from the last comment. She did not care and continued to stare at the Indians.

  Troy raised his hand, palm facing outward and said, “HOW!”

  “I really don’t think that is gonna help.” Maria grabbed his hand and pulled it down, now it was her turn to give a dirty look.

  “What did I do?” He asked.

  A figure appeared
before them, it was Eve and she said, “you are a witch, Maria and a very good one.” She winked at Troy who had begun to laugh; Eve then turned to the Indians and waved her arm. The Indians retreated to their mounds and disappeared.

  “See that’s what you were supposed to do,” Troy said, still laughing.

  “Shut up,” Maria said.

  Eve turned back toward them, “thank-you for helping, you have a great gift and to block it is wrong; be proud to be a witch. It’s really not that bad.” She smiled and disappeared.

  “So what about him?” Maria asked Troy.

  “You mean, what is left of him; the animals will take care of him,” he said.

  She asked, “what about the police?”

  “I’ve got an idea,” Troy said.

  Troy called Sheriff Lewis and told him that the witch killer was dead. “A bear attacked him in Laurel Creek. We ran and saved ourselves. His body is still there if you want it.”

  “He actually believed you?” Maria asked when Troy hung up the phone.

  “Of course he did, shit like that happens all the time round here,” Troy told her.

  She laughed; glad it was finally over. Maria thought Troy would make a good writer, the way he made up that story to the police. Then he would have to help the police solve murders. Then Maria thought about it, a writer is not the answer, they needed a witch.

  Chapter 6

  An ancient creature lives peacefully in modern times until one day a hunter changed it into a monster seeking revenge.