Vanessa

The road is bumpy and rough. Silence encompasses the car. When someone so much as coughs, I glare at them causing them to slam their mouth shut. Keria sits next to me on Nate’s seat and is humming some creepy little tune. I honestly didn’t know if what Keria said was true.

She never liked it when I’d leave Dolon as fast as I entered. She would wear a shocked expression on her face, as if she couldn’t believe that I wouldn’t jump at the chance to stay with her—with them.

Keira’s obvious dislike of Nate does not even include how she would treat him. In the beginning, she didn’t seem to mind him, but after that one attack she suddenly picked up a vendetta with him. She tried to get everyone on her bandwagon of never allowing Nate to step into the town again.

Luckily, no one bought into Keira’s words too much as everyone trusts Kore’s judgment where Nate is concerned. It doesn’t hurt that after saving Kore and Amena, the other witches were open to him being there.

I can’t help but feel on edge, and it’s not just about the mysterious situation that Keira has yet to tell me about. Nate and I have been inseparable since met each other in an abandoned supermarket.

I try to look on the bright side of this little trip: I’ll get the chance to roam around without Nate having my back at every turn. Nobody will be cracking jokes meant for my ears only and trying their best to make our impossible situations seem a bit better. Ugh, I miss him.

“Take a left up here.” Keria interrupts my train of thought, and I shake my head before making the turn she indicated. “Wow, this sure is a fast way to travel. You and Nate must’ve been across the country by now,” she said with a sly glint in her eyes. I squeeze the wheel to keep from breaking her nose.

Everybody knows we don’t ever travel that far East. We both feared that we’d be caught and killed by the NTSCU. Besides, none of us really knew what was out there. I grew up in that part of the country, but I spent most of my time with my head down.

I sighed and tried to calm myself. Really, it’s not her fault that I had to be dragged out here to deal with this problem. I sneak another glance at her. Her blue eyes are wide, and a giddiness seems to be lurking within them. Her sandy blond hair is pulled into a tight bun with not a strand out of place.

I shake my head, focusing my gaze up ahead as the ground smoothes out. I noticed the mountains on either side of the road. I know the car definitely won’t fit between the walls, so I gently press the brakes and stop the engine.

As I turn to exit the car, several Bobbies appear and start banging on the windows. Perhaps at any other time I would have been afraid, but I’ve been traveling with Nate for a while. We’ve come across a magnitude of Bobbies in that time, and I’ve learned that ones that are basically decomposing, like these ones, are barely a threat when you strike them down quickly.

I check the rearview mirror and see that the other witches are already freaking at the slight banging even though we are clearly in no danger inside the car. Honestly, you’d think that people who live so close to No Man's Land wouldn’t be so scared of a few Bobbies like these ones.

I wait for the Bobbies to move away from the door before I swing it open, hitting a Bobby straight in the face. Ignoring the screams from the others, I climb outside the car and get a closer look at the situation.

Five Bobbies altogether and not one of them is free of Rot or even look remotely like they’ve been lucid in a while. I gather a fireball in my hand before throwing it at the one closest to the front of the car.

It becomes engulfed in flames relatively quickly, running around for a few moments before letting out a few high pitched wails that die out as it falls over onto the ground. Its brethren try to overwhelm me after the first one fails, but I just conjure my flames and immerse them in fire as well.

Soon enough, the blaze dies out, and all that remains are the burned bodies. Even though the Bobbies are all dead, I can still hear their screams and look around for the source of the noise. Eventually, my eyes land on the car, where the other witches are huddled inside and screaming their heads off.

I swear either Nate’s corrupted me or these people are incompetent. I shake my head, jerk the car door open, and everything goes silent; only the wind howling around confirms that I didn’t go deaf in that one second.

I walk away and wait for them to compose themselves enough to step out of the car. Keira is the first to hesitantly open the door, poke her head out, and pull herself out of the vehicle. I catch a look of disgust in her expression as she looks around at the burned bodies and sand; a small patch of flames is still going strong.

“Was all this truly necessary?” Keira looks at me with horror and wrings her hands together, swivels her head all the while as if that will help her take in the destruction I’ve caused.

The other doors groan, and I’m graced with the other witches, a man and a woman, who tumble out of the car trembling and holding onto each other. The man gives a small squeak as a Bobby, still on fire gripping onto life, slithers towards him with one hand outstretched.

They surge forward and hide behind me, nearly knocking me on the ground in their hurry. Keira widens her eyes and her jaw drops at the sight of the quivering behind me. Quickly, she hides it behind a smile and turns to lead us towards the new settlement for Dolon. Well, this is going to be so fun.

We follow Keira along a well worn path with several pairs of footprints imprinted into the sand. The duo behind me has finally composed themselves after their little episode back at the car. But I’m not judging. Between Nate and I, I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve needed to stop and rest because one of us couldn’t handle things.

We stop, and as if we were hypnotized, I find myself walking ahead of the others. I stare at the ocean; and honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. The water is so blue that it’s mind-blowing; the sun dances off the water, making an illusion of tiny crystals shining across the gliding waves. I toe one shoe off and then the other.

I step into the water and am pleasantly surprised at the cooling sensation. The closest I’ve ever come to experiencing this was when Nate found us a small stream to wash off in after that disastrous cliff fall.

“C’mon Nessa, don’t you trust me?” Nate taunts me, standing right at the edge of a murky looking stream. There are random pieces of garbage floating around in it.

“I’m not getting in there.” I turn my back to him, and I am about to go sit by the car when a pair of arms wrap around my waist and toss me into h the air. A shrill scream rips from my throat but is quickly cut off once my head goes underwater.

I bob in and out of the water, coughing and wildly flailing out my limbs. Hands grab me and lead me to the edge. I look through my hair and see Nate with his eyes. He reaches out to touch me before hesitantly retracting his hand, thinking better of it.

“Nessa I di-”

“Yeah I know.” I cut him off, keeping my hold on edge tight and building up the energy to pull myself out of the water. Suddenly, Nate pulls me into his arms and gently cradles me to his chest.

I wrap my arms around his neck in a death grip that does nothing but make him chuckle—stupid Bobbies and them having no need to breathe. I watch as Nate takes step after step into the depths of the stream.

“I won’t let anythin’ happen to you.” He sounds so serious, and I can do nothing but nod my head. He lowers us into the water, and I work hard to keep my heart rate as slow as possible. Nate lets me float in the water, but he never relinquishes his hold on my hand, and I’ve never been more thankful.

We camped out at that stream for a full week to Nate slowly worked to teach me to swim at least I wouldn’t drown. I hate the feeling of the water going over my head, but at least I wouldn’t drown. In the following weeks, he became worried after nearly drowning me, as he saw it as yet another time I’ve almost died by his hand. He falls me around with his puppy dog yes before I eventually got tired of his melodrama.

“Vee,” Keira calls and I turn to see her standing by herself. I suppose the others must have walked into the camp. “I don’t think you’ve ever looked so peaceful before.”

“Not here,” I correct, choosing not to comment more on the topic.

“Well, come on. I’m sure Kore is wondering where we are by now.” She gives me a tight smile as she walks into a different field, and I see tents and huts standing up. Bustling about, I stop, spotting Kore as she moves around to talk to various individuals. The atmosphere seems so different from when they had lived deeper inland.

Hugo comes and touches her on the back, and I sense as her magic snaps in the air, tense and tight, though none of her features give away her stress. She turns in my direction and, as always, she’s dressed in one of her dresses although this one hangs loosely around her shoulders and stops just about mid-thigh.

“Vee, I am so glad you could make it,” she greets me.

“Me too, but I am unsure as to why I’m needed. I mean, besides the few Bobbies we encountered, nothing seems to be out of place,” I tell Kore, watching her for any reaction.

“They have been coming in large hoards; and honestly, we have lost a few of the weaker witches of our coven; it is a distressing time,” she explains, and my heart goes out to her.

“Well no time like the present, seeing as Nate is coming in a few days; at least that’s what he claims,” Keira states, and I narrow my eyes.

“Nate will be here, but I can offer my services until then,” I tell Kore.

“Of course. And thank you, I never would have invoked the promise if this was unimportant.” Kore’s eyes start to mist over, and I panic for a second, thinking that she’s going to cry. Thankfully she blinks a few times, and the possible episode passes without my lack of people skills adding to the situation.

When a small figure barrels into my side, I’m almost pushed to the ground. I look down and am greeted with Amena’s big eyes, looking around my body as if I am hiding something she is looking for.

Gazing down at her big eyes, I’m hit with a wave of sadness which makes my heart ache. She’s snatched out of my loose hold, and the feeling goes with her. I take in a few ragged breaths as I try my hardest to process what the hell just happened.

“Vee, I am so sorry, are you okay?” Kore is at my side. I nod, afraid that if I open my mouth bile will spew out. Closing my eyes after a moment, it feels though as if it never happened.

“What the hell was that?” I demand. Never before had something like that happened; it was like a foreign entity had invaded my body.

“Amena is like Hugo; but instead of thoughts, she can share her feelings,” Kore explains.

“Is that why she doesn’t talk?” I want to take back the words immediately when guilt flashes across Kore’s face.

“No, that is caused by different circumstances.” Kore turns slightly away, and I know that the conversation is over.

“It would be helpful if I learned more about the situation at hand.” I force my face into a practiced ‘blank but interested’ look that I had mastered in my early teen years. I assumed that it had worked since Kore's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly and gives me a grateful smile.

“Yes, of course. Honestly, this has been going on for some time, but it wasn’t until about four moon cycles ago that it became a more serious problem. We had a major fluctuation of people around that time, and I thought maybe it was a simple security issue…”

“But what?” I prompt her.

“But then it kept happening. You were at the attack where the Bobbies first managed to break inside. I just feel like something else is going on.”

“And you have no idea what could be causing this?” I ask, and immediately her eyes drop from mine. I narrow my gaze, but before I can interrogate her, Keira injects herself into the conversation.

“Of course, my cousin has no idea what’s going on. How dare you imply otherwise.” Keira stands in front of Kore, yet there’s nothing defensive about her stance. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that she’s just playing a part. Something fishy is going on here. And of course, just as I was starting to get answers, more Bobbies burst through the entrance.