January 12, 2010
Vail knocked on the front door of Ryley’s house. I didn’t know how she found out where he lived, and I didn’t bother asking. I was not totally sold on this plan.
“Do you think he’ll let us in?” I asked her.
“Probably not,” she said. “But worth a shot.”
We waited there for a moment and heard no sounds from inside the house.
“He’s probably not home,” I said, feeling defeated. I didn’t even know what we would do once he opened the door. Or how we would get inside. If he invited us in, Vail’s plan was to return later to investigate his house without him there.
Vail gave me the side-eye and knocked again.
“Do you smell that?” I asked, sniffing the air. The cold winter air stung my lungs, but I smelled blood.
Vail twisted the door handle. It was unlocked. She opened it and stepped inside. No invisible threshold kept her out, which could only mean one thing.
The scent of blood hit me like a wall once I stepped inside. It was fresh. I was glad I drank a lot earlier that evening, though I could still feel an itch in my senses. Vail walked around the corner of the hallway into the living room, and I followed her.
“Holy shit,” I said as I took in the sight.
Ryley’s body—or what I assumed was his body— was sprawled across the hardwood floor, surrounded by shattered glass from the back window. His throat had been slit; his chest caved in as if something had pressed down hard enough to break his ribs. Dark, almost black blood pooled beneath him, seeping into the fibres of the orange shag carpet. His limbs were bent unnaturally, his fingers curled as though he had been grasping for something in his final moments. Candles flickered around him in a perfect circle, their flames swaying gently in the breeze from the broken window.
“What happened?” I asked.
Vail looked at me like I was dim. “Another witch did this,” she said, as if pointing out the obvious. “I can taste their magic. This just happened.” She smacked her lips together, tasting the air. “Burnt caramel.”
I stuck out my tongue and tasted nothing. “Does your magic have a taste?” I asked her.
“I’ve never asked,” she replied as she walked around cautiously. “Normally, I can’t taste another witch’s magic. It’s easy to cover up your scent in spells. It’s something we learn early on, so another witch can’t know what spells you cast. Unless you want them to know it was you.”
Other than Ryley’s body and the candles in the room, nothing else looked to be touched. In fact, there was nothing else in the room at all, as if Ryley or someone else had gotten rid of all their belongings.
Lost in my own thoughts, I reached out to touch one of the candle flames.
“Don’t do that!” Vail moved faster than I could see, knocking me out of the way before I could extinguish the flame. “You should know better than to touch a witch’s spell. You have no idea what will happen.”
She was right, I should have known better. But being away from her and magic for so long made me forget.
“You invited me to come here with you, and now I’m just following you around. I feel useless.”
Sirens rang outside, and the flashing blue and red lights of a cop car filled the room. “A neighbour must have called the cops.”
We ran out the back door, but just as we reached the alley, I saw someone standing on the roof across the street. Staring at us. A slim figure, barely visible in the dim light. They turned and bolted, jumping from rooftop to rooftop across the closely packed buildings.
“It’s the witch. Let’s follow them,” Vail said. She crouched slightly and cupped her hands. I stepped into them, and she boosted me onto the nearest rooftop.
We chased the figure, leaping from one building to the next. The cold wind whipped against my face, and my boots scraped against the rooftops. Adrenaline coursed through me with the thrill of the chase.
Vail reached into her purse, and pulled out a vial. She threw it and the glass broke, just nearly missing the person running.
Out of the vial grew a large wave of water. Growing to become 20 feet tall, it towered over the figure, threatening to engulf him. Just as the wave came crashing down, the figure shot out their hands, and a black wall of magic formed, shielding them from the wave as it crashed.
We continued to run, and as I jumped, my foot caught the edge of a gutter, now wet from Vail’s spell, and I tripped, my body pitching forward. My hand shot out, grabbing the eaves just in time. My other arm swung wildly beneath me.
If I fell, I wouldn’t die, but at this height, I’d probably break my ankles. Something I didn’t want to happen.
“Vail!”
