Wilma
I think it’s safe to say that any creature who insists on singing Dionne Warwick’s “Say A Little Prayer For You” while slowly draining you of your magic is a sadist. I also think it’s safe to say that when one has been trapped in the cold, wet mud underground, having their magic drained for hours, they might not be the most reliable narrator. I will, however, attempt to describe what happened here so that if I’m not rescued in time, someone will put a stop to this creature’s wicked plans.
While the creature had me trapped, it continuously hummed light-hearted tunes, which were off-key and therefore terrifying to listen to. The creature also began to change shape from the gelatinous gray blob to a humanoid appearance. It happen so slowly that I feared I was imagining the change, that I was hallucinating.
Then the visions began.
Layla, Marge, and Roy fighting against a wispy black-haired witch. The same witch watching a man shift into an alligator and torturing him. The woman making love to a man with a huge belly while she drained his Shifter magic. The man bringing her more Shifters to drain. Her drinking blood of sacrificed animals.
Eventually the visions came so fast they blurred together, and I was forced to watch all of the awful things this woman had done to the Shifter community here in the Bayou. My heart broke for the child of the alpha, for the witches who’d lost their mates and then their lives at her hand. And I was devastated to think that I’d only just gotten my magic, hadn’t really had time to form a bond with it, and she’d found a way to take it from me once more.
I tried several times to fight her off, furious that even my vampire strength couldn’t help me, but Mother Nature’s magic was strongest of all, and this woman had somehow found a way to channel her magic as well.
“Don’t worry, little witch. This won’t kill you. You’re a vampire. You’ll live here forever…underground with nothing to sustain you while you feed me.”
Her mouth hadn’t moved. She filled my head with her nastiness as I fought and fought to escape.
And then my worst nightmare occurred.
The witch began to take my memories.
I watched as all of my past flashed before my eyes, all of the joy of finding Gus plucked from my devastated heart. The pain of living alone with my curse for a hundred years. It was torture like I’d never imagined a being would willingly inflict on another. I had to do something to stop her, but I was helpless to get away.
“Only love could save you, dearie, and love will never find you.”
There was one thing I could do…one thing I swore I’d never do.
We hexen had perfected the art of avenging the wrongs done to us. I had been a living example of the power of the hex. I’d never wanted to hurt a soul, and I’d lived my life as honorably as possible despite not having my magic until recently. But this woman meant to do harm, that was clear. And it was also clear to me what I had to do.
With the last bit of essence I held within my body, I spoke the words:
I will have my vengeance
I will destroy you
There is no place you can hide
There is nothing that will save you
And with these words
I hex you
I curse you
I will end you.
The witch called Glinda cackled. She believed she couldn’t be hexed. She thought herself all-powerful as she sucked my magic and essence from my body, but hexen curses are nearly impossible to defeat. I should know. I’d lived with one for a hundred years.
“There,” she said as she burped. “Ah, what a sweet thing.”
Instead of the gelatinous blob trapped in the muck, she was now a stunning woman with long, straight black hair that spilled over her torso, covering her breasts and reaching down to her knees. The mud fell away from her as she stepped out of the wall, leaving her alabaster skin unblemished. She wiggled her fingers, and I nearly sobbed when I saw my signature magic, my colors, spark from her fingertips.
“First stop, destroy that little water witch bitch. Then I’m going to reclaim what was mine. Toodles, hexen.”
With that, she snapped her fingers and disappeared.
My hope disappeared in her wake.