Burning the Witches Ch. 02

"Good lord," said Angela. "Sarah that child is almost as powerful as Rebecca and there's more power, but a darker power around here...Oh shit, it's the car!"

"Auntie, take her inside. Try to call her parents. Chris and I are out of here," I said.

The little girl looked up at me then. "She's not the car. She has a name. Her name is Chrissie. She protects us, but mostly me." Angela took her by the hand and led her inside the house.

Chris and I got inside of the car and the doors slammed shut as if the car knew where we had to go. The car took off at an alarming rate of speed. The needle of the speedometer only went to a hundred and forty miles per hour but we were doing way over two hundred and twenty. Chris wasn't actually driving the car. We just held on.

Once we settled in it became easier to judge our speed by the freeway overpasses. We covered a mile every fifteen seconds or so. It took us just under fifteen minutes to get to the area that our new allies would face off with Bridget's forces.

I got out of the car and kissed Chris goodbye, hoping that it wasn't the last time I would do so. The car, Chrissie the little girl had called it, sped off. The engine sounded really good but when it reached a certain speed it went eerily quiet.

At first I thought I was in the wrong place. But then the sounds of howling and battle let me know that not only was I in the right place, I was probably late.

I saw a lot of men and a bunch of things that looked like some sort of half men half dogs. There were lots of them and they were all converging on two men and three women. One of the men and two of the women were the ones I saw at the airport.

I was in an alley. Luckily there were lots of restaurants in the area. I hid behind one of those large trash bins and quickly realized that I would be better off inside of it. Being inside of it would give me protection on all four sides and the trash would keep any of those dog things from smelling me.

This was apparently a serious fight. And it was very fast and very bloodthirsty. I wasn't sure that Chris would survive in it if he was here, and I was sure that I wouldn't.

* * * * * *

Jason

Suckers, we been played for suckers. We had assumed that the vampire would have told the truth. After all he had promised Penance and Patience a fair fight. It would be him against them, they claimed. I was sure that he knew about Mason and if this was about the vamp we'd taken out two years ago. He had to know that I'd be here as well.

But instead of the fight we'd expected, there were five or six vampires and twenty or more werewolves. And strangely enough, on the building that offered the best view, there was the blinking form of a woman who looked as if she was made of mist. I think that woman scared me more than any of the things on the ground.

We had a few surprises up our sleeves as well. As a wolf leapt for me I retreated by leaping backwards just out of range. Then I thrust forward until the tip of my Katana just barely penetrated the skin beneath the fur. The reaction was instantaneous. The creature halted in mid step and began flailing at the tiny wound. Its arms began to swell and blacken. Then it tried to rip its own chest open. Finally it exploded leaving a lump of fur and flesh where it once stood.

"Silver," shrieked another of the creatures and the battle was on. I lost sight of my allies as the battle continued. I helped them when I could but the pitched battle took all of my concentration. I kept an eye out for Prudence as I'm sure she did for me. We were doing well. We all had our own specialties and we used them. Patience found the high ground and was launching silver tipped death in all directions. Penance was a tank. She crushed everything in her wake. Mason was lightning fast as he handled vampires single handedly. And as usual my Prudence struck like a Valkyrie.

As always I was mesmerized watching her. Her speed and grace made the rest of us seem clumsy. And then...she went down holding the sides of her head. I was by her side in an instant. I cut down everything that stood between us. There was no mercy in me when Prudence was in trouble.

The woman I love was writhing on the floor, although I swear nothing had touched her. This was something different.

And then "He" came. He was screaming and really pissed off.

"She is mine to kill," he screamed. "They all are. You were only supposed to soften them up."

The mist woman appeared beside him. "You can have all of the rest," she said. "But this one is spoken for. Perhaps the male..."

"We had a deal," screamed Papa Tulu.

"And now we have a different one," said the woman in the mist. The vampire bared his claws and fangs and before he could move, he was flying backwards and upside down until he hit a wall hard enough to shatter every bone in his body. He slumped to the ground unmoving.

* * * * * *

. Sarah

Everyone was staring at the battle between the ghostly witch and the powerful vampire. Most of the werewolves and the other vampires were torn between helping the betrayed Papa Tulu and allying themselves with the powerful sorceress. Some of them just walked away.

The man with the sword was making his way towards the fallen woman in red leather. He looked really concerned. She had her hands over her ears as if she was trying very hard not to hear something. It made me think of the voices from the witch but it couldn't be her. Bridget was checking to make sure that her former ally was down and out.

I knew what I had to do. I wondered then what would become of my plan. I made my way over to the woman. She was writhing on the ground in obvious pain. As I approached her, I noticed two things. The first was the barely visible form of an animalistic presence hovering over her. I wasn't sure that anyone else saw it. The second was the man in leather similar to hers. The concern on his face was evident.

"I...I think I can help her," I said. He looked at me with a mixture of desperation and mistrust.

"Okay," he said tersely. So although he didn't say the words, his message was clear. If I hurt her, I would die. I slowly took out the amulet that was supposed to protect Rebecca from Bridget and put it around the neck of the woman on the ground. There was a sound like a small explosion and green smoke appeared around the woman. Then there was a very loud scream. It was so loud that everyone in the area turned towards us. The sound wasn't a female voice. Then the woman stood up as if she'd never been hurt. The necklace around her neck glowed with some kind of power.

"Prudence are you okay?" asked the man beside me.

She smiled and reached for him. "I'm fine thanks to this," she said pointing at the amulet. "Jason that thing was inside my mind. It wanted..."

"I am undone," screamed the voice.

"Oh well, it saves me the trouble of having to kill you later on myself," said Bridget.

"Wait, you have to help me," screamed the voice. "If you bring the body of the witch here quickly enough I can still inhabit that one."

"Why exactly would I do that?" asked Bridget.

"Because we're allies," shrieked the voice.

"Every alliance reaches its end," said Bridget calmly. "This is ours. But don't worry, I'll avenge you."

She actually looked around and smiled as she heard him screaming as he was sucked into the amulet.

Then she turned towards me. "Well, little witch," she smiled. Her ethereal form was so well delineated that it was almost tangible. "I'm not sure if I should thank you for getting rid of that blow hard or kill you because I'm sure that we are not going to be friends. It's funny but out of all of the witches I have yet to claim, you are the least powerful, but I somehow get the impression that you're the one I have to worry about the most."

She looked around and saw that the vampire was beginning to stir. "Perhaps you came here to see how powerful I am so you'll understand what you have to do. Don't worry, I'll tell you what you have to do. You have to surrender and agree to serve me. Then..."

She stopped talking as she noticed that I was laughing. "You've wasted a lot of your strength on the battle tonight," I said. "You're weak. It costs you a lot of power to influence things on this plane doesn't it? That's why you need a human body."

"I'm not so weak that I can't kill one nearly powerless human that can barely be called a witch," she sneered. "You would be foolish to do battle with me."

"It's not her you need to worry about," said Rebecca stepping out of my SUV. Evie had driven them here after me.

Rebecca looked at me for some sort of confirmation. I shrugged my shoulders.

"You aren't strong enough to face me either," sneered Bridget. "And if you don't stand down, your man will be incinerated. The only thing that keeps him alive is my good will. Cross me and he will die in agony. Your affection for that...MAN...makes you weak."

"Sarah," whined Rebecca. She looked at me for assurance but I had none to give her. All I could do was to hope that Chris would come through.

As Rebecca advanced on the ethereal form of Bridget, the main thought going through my mind was that she was going to lose. Her mind really wasn't here. It was split between worry about her husband and the fact that she really had no idea of how to use her power.

The fallen vampire quickly regained his senses as his body started to heal at a rapid rate. He rose and seemingly without a thought flung himself at Prudence. The Cajun man flung himself at the same time. The two vampires hit each other with a sound that wouldn't have been out of place at a pro football game.

They hissed at each other baring their fangs and struck at each other several times both drawing blood. Jason and Prudence got ready to join into the fray and several of the werewolves headed in our direction as we'll.

Then a lot of things all happened at the same time. Out of nowhere moving at a speed that was ridiculous, the Yellow Mustang arrived at the scene. The door opened and Chris got out, looking around for me. Behind him, Joey got out. He was rubbing his wrists but seemed fine. Then a small woman dressed in tattered leather got out of the car. She looked around and yelled, "Mason!"

The vampire only averted his eyes to look at her for a fraction of a second, but it was long enough. Papa Tulu noticed that his opponent was distracted and plunged his claw like hand into Mason's chest and snatching out his heart. The Cajun vampire died looking across the field at the woman he obviously loved.

The small woman in leather ran across the distance that separated them. Papa Tula squeezed the heart of his opponent and then bit into it as if it was a delicacy. Blood ran down his cheeks as he chewed on the tough muscular structure.

Everyone was stunned as the woman cradled the body of the fallen vampire crying her eyes out even as the body gradually became dust. Papa Tulu laughed and chewed. "One down, two easy ones to go," he chuckled. "I'll let the rest of you live for a while and pick you off slowly over the years. Sometimes I just need something to do."

"This guy tastes just like chicken," he said. Then he spat loudly as the heart began to turn to dust like the rest of the body had. The woman on the ground looked at the vampire and snapped. She got up and leaped at the vampire far faster than any human being should have been able to move.

A huge woman in green leather who carried some sort of pole-like weapon with a metal head with jagged spikes on it screamed, "Piety...nooooooo!"

As quickly as the woman had moved, the vampire was faster. He grabbed her out of the air by taking her neck in one of his hands as if she was weightless. He shook her violently several times and then snapped her neck like a twig, before flinging her back on the ground. She landed in the dusty remains of her former love.

Everyone in the area stopped as the ramifications of what had just happened sank in. Then Bridget's high pitched laughter pierced the air. "Tulu, I've changed my mind," she cackled. The old thing is dead. He has no use for that body. And I will soon have the little witch, kill her boyfriend and you can have all of the nuns.

"I don't need your permission," sneered Tulu. "We're no longer allies remember. I do as I please."

"What you do need is to stay on my good side," hissed Bridget. She raised her hand and several small fires sprang up around Tulu. The vampire's eyes got bigger then.

"What difference does it make," he grumbled. "He pointed at Joey and several of the werewolves turned to attack him.

"Patience, Penance, protect that little man," screamed Prudence. "Jason and I have the vampire" she tuned to me. "You" re the witch. Can you take that ghostly thing out?"

"We'll try," I said.

As I made my way across the field toward Rebecca who was only watching the two women trying to get Joey to safety, I turned back to watch the battle. There were more and more vampires and werewolves coming out of the woods. Our forces were pitifully outnumbered.

Jason brought the edge of his sword down on Papa Tulu's shoulder. The blade bit deeply into the vampire and Jason danced away, avoiding a vicious swipe from the vamp's claws. As the vamp tried to deal with her swiftly moving husband, Prudence struck him from behind. That wound also healed up with alarming speed. The vamp turned to address her and was clubbed over the head with the hilt of Jason's sword. The blow would have shattered the skull of a human, but Papa Tulu simply laughed.

The sound of tortured rubber rent the air as the Yellow Mustang drove over near Papa Tulu. He leaped straight up into the air and the car passed beneath him.

"Do ya' all think I'm stupid?" he asked, chuckling. "That was the way ya killed my boy. You slammed a car into him and then cut off his head," he sneered, pointing at Jason. "Ya did it to save that bitch." He pointed at Prudence. "You took my firstborn. So for revenge, I'm gonna' kill that bitch while you watch. And then I'm gonna' let you live. You'll go through life reliving her death over and over in your mind. I bet you won't last the year out before you cut your own throat." He started laughing again then.

Behind him the car started again the tires threw off smoke and rubber as they spun in place. Some of the rubber hit Papa Tulu who laughed. Then suddenly flames shot out of the car's dual exhaust lighting the vampire on fire. He screamed then for Bridget's help, but she was pre-occupied. After four hundred years the vampire known as Papa Tulu died.

As I turned back to Rebecca, I noticed that Jason and Prudence hadn't lost any time going to aid the two women in leather trying to protect Joey.

As I got closer I heard Bridget. "Give up Rebecca and your husband will live. You saw the way that stupid nun sacrificed herself trying to get revenge for a stupid vampire. Don't you love your husband that much? If you give in you won't really die. You'll just become a part of me. And that part will make sure that I never hurt Joey. You're tired Rebecca. This isn't a battle that you can win. You're not even a real witch. You're an accident. You were born with power that should've gone to someone else."

"Can't you just take the power and leave me alone?" asked Bridget.

"I'd still need a body," said Bridget. "And it has to be one that can contain that much power."

Bridget's form began making gestures in the air. Suddenly my aunt Angela stepped out of the shadows with my cousins behind her. She began making gestures of her own to block whatever Bridget was trying to do.

"Very good," cackled Bridget. "It's too bad you're so weak. This may have been a good battle. But I have the power of almost a hundred witches."

"Almost a hundred weak witches," I said. "Auntie, use Rebecca like you did before."

The battle changed then my aunt clamped down on Rebecca's hand, using her like a battery. It was obvious though that Bridget had more power at her disposal. Then the tiny little girl that had been inside of the car grabbed my aunt's other hand. Suddenly Bridget's face grew lined and she looked over her shoulder. My aunt had more power at her disposal, but only by a slight margin. And it looked as if Bridget was looking for an escape.

"Auntie, you have to take her out," I screamed. "If you don't she'll only burn more witches and come back even stronger." Even as I said it my two cousins, Evie and Savannah joined the battle lending their strength to my aunt. Evie grabbed Rebecca's other hand while Savannah held the little girl's in a five witch chain with all of the power focused through my aunt whose eyes glowed a bright green and her red hair appeared to be almost on fire.

"Sarah, what should I do with her? I can hold her but not forever," yelled Angela.

"Prudence," I screamed. She saw me and ran over to me with her husband watching her back. I took the amulet from around her neck and nodded my thanks. The amulet still glowed with the demon locked inside of it.

"Auntie," I yelled over Bridget's screaming.

I don't know the technical aspects of what Angela did. The amulet could only hold one entity at a time. But somehow Aunt Angela bound Bridget's spirit to the amulet and then sent the Amulet back to the dimension the demon inhabited.

For a brief second we all felt better. The spirits of both Bridget and her demonic ally were banished from our dimension. Then we realized exactly how many vampires and werewolves were still out there.

Jason pointed to a black Mustang that had appeared on the crest forth hill. A tall man dressed all in black leather got out.

This man had very long black hair. He looked at the battle and used some kind of object that looked like an antique tomahawk. He started swirling the tomahawk and locked eyes with Jason, who nodded. "Patience, Penance, get in the car," yelled Jason. The Yellow Mustang had started up again and its door opened as it headed for us. It slowed as it passed the two nuns who dove in just in time.

In response to the swirling of the tomahawk an icy cold wind streamed in over the lake. The winds of November had come early this year. It was unusual for a storm from the Great Lakes to come this far inland but this was an unusual time. The swirling winds became a torrential storm, but it was only directed down the hill. The vampires and werewolves there were swept back down the hill. Many of them died as gale force winds drove their bodies into and through the trunks of trees at the edge of the woods. Others were set afire by seemingly random bolts of lightning. Some turned and ran but most of them died.

When the area was clear. The man lowered his tomahawk, nodded at Jason, who waved and got back into his Mustang and drove away. The entire time that he'd been here was less than five minutes and he hadn't spoken a word.

Just when we thought it was over, when all of us were too tired emotionally and physically to even lift a finger, another car appeared at the crest of the hill. It was an old school muscle car; a Chevelle SS. A man with an extremely worried look on his face got out. The man looked like he could have been handsome if his face wasn't lined with worry.

As he looked at us, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked straight for us. He turned back to look at the car and yelled something. A pretty woman poked her head out of the car and ran down the hill to catch up to him.

"Okay who's going to explain all of this to the normal people?" I asked. I looked around and no one, not even my husband volunteered.

"Honey, I think you're the only one who knows all of what happened," said Chris. As we watched the man and woman walked right up to us and smiled as they walked right by. They avoided walking near any of the dead werewolves and walked straight over to where my Aunt Angela and my cousins stood next to Rebecca and the little girl. All of them were drained by what had just happened.