NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Perdita and Sthena arrived at the forest near the witch’s house as the weather’s temperature had considerably gone down and the falling snow had increased the pace at which it fell in the early morning hours.

”What is that?” Perdita questioned when Sthena brought his hand towards her.

”To keep you warm,” Sthena replied.

Perdita’s brows rose in surprise. She had seen Sthena reach into his coat pocket for his scarf. She didn’t expect him to use it to keep her warm. His simple gesture seemed to also warm her heart in return.

She smiled and mouthed, ”Thank you,”

”Hmm,” Sthena hummed in acknowledgment as he carefully tied the knot of the scarf by the side of Perdita’s neck. He remarked with a grin on his face, ”Maybe, the next time you thank me, you can do it in another way?”

Perdita’s cheeks heated on hearing Sthena’s words. She quickly turned away to hide her burning cheeks, and this action of hers brought a smile to Sthena’s face. He said, ”Let’s head inside, shall we?”

”Okay,” Perdita muttered, the anxiety returning to haunt her quivering heart.

When they entered the building, they did not receive an owl or a bat welcome like they did the last time they had come to the witch. The only thing that did not change was the webs and dust that covered the entire building which seemed to have thickened since the last time they came.

Perdita couldn’t help the sneeze that escaped her lips which was caused by the dust she inhaled. Sthena placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she exhaled deeply to calm her jittery nerves.

Once they reached the opening that served as the witch’s main room in the building, the witch was quick to come out and welcome her guests unlike when she played the game of hide and seek with them.

”You came,” The witch commented as soon as he saw Sthena. Turning to Perdita, she gave her a deep bow and said, ”Welcome,”

Sthena’s brows furrowed into a frown at the exchange that happened. It was as if the witch accorded more respect to Perdita than she did towards him.

”Can we start the ritual, Witcher?” Sthena asked the witch which earned him a one-sided look from her.

The witch did not reply to Sthena’s question but instead turned her gaze towards Perdita and questioned, ”Did you bring everything I asked for?”

”Yes, we did,” Perdita replied with a nod. She turned to look at Sthena for him to bring out the things he said were with him. Her brother’s blood.

Sthena rolled his eyes as he reached inside his coat pocket to bring out a small bottle containing Marco’s blood and remarked, ”I asked if we could start but you decided to waste our golden time by asking unnecessary questions. Go ahead, we don’t have all day.”

The witch stared at Sthena in response, the need to glare at him greater than the snow falling outside. ”Okay. Please keep it on the table. I’ll need you to sit here.” The witch instructed Perdita while she went around the dust-filled table and sat down.

Perdita complied with the witch’s words, every second rapidly ticking in her heart while wondering what would become of the ritual. Will it be successful so they can bring back her brother? Or will it turn out to be futile? Only the heavens knew.

The witch after sitting down, reached under the table and pulled a drawer open. She brought out a brown sheet marked with the names of villages and towns in the kingdom. Each name with an indication of if it is located in the East, West, North, and South beside it.

She continued to bring out a white chalk she used to draw a marking-like symbol on the brown sheet. She reached for the bottle containing Marco’s blood and opened it.

Lastly, she closed her eyes and began to whisper in a barely audible voice that would have proved hard for a normal person to hear, save for the people in the room who were vampires who could hear every word she spoke. The only problem was that none could understand what she was saying.

Perdita watched with keen interest as the witch continued her incantations that started from a whisper to an audible voice. Not long after, smoke started to emit from the brown sheet, and unaware of how the witch knew there was smoke, Perdita saw her pour the contents of the bottle in the middle of the brown sheet.

After pouring the blood, nothing happened at first until Perdita who was keenly looking at what the witch was doing saw the blood slowly move in between the lines of the sheet as though it was trailing the sides. What marveled Perdita the more was how the blood did not flow elsewhere but continued in a single line along the names of the villages and towns.

After some minutes, the flowing blood abruptly evaporated and there was no trace of the blood on the brown sheet and almost immediately, the witch coughed out blood from her mouth, her face contorted in pain.

The witch held her chest as she coughed out more blood which caused Perdita to quickly stand on her feet, her heart beating fast in worry.

”Are you alright? What happened?” Perdita asked in panic as she ran to the witch’s side to help her out, but Sthena’s hand caught her wrist before she could get to her.

Perdita turned to look at Sthena with a questioning gaze as to why he didn’t let her help out the witch. Sthena in turn shook his head negatively without saying anything or revealing what was on his mind.

The witch coughed out more blood that slowly became black blood after she spat it out. When she recovered from the sudden cough and pain, she stared at Perdita and negatively shook her head to a no.

”What do you mean? What happened?” Perdita continued to ask while they stared at the witch in doubt.

”I c—couldn’t get to him.” The witch revealed and before another question would come to her from Perdita, she explained, ”The medium to get his location was blocked by them.”

By them? Perdita questioned herself.

”When you said by them, did you mean the witches? Serena?” Perdita let out the burning questions in her mind.

”Yes,” The witch nodded in reply. ”I’m sorry but Marco cannot be located. Even if you try with another witch or another creature, you cannot locate him. The path to locate him is blocked and nothing can be done to destroy it.”