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Serena decided not to take Sara with her. Instead, she killed Sara on the spot - using a gun one of her minions (or she) had with them to blow the poor child’s head off. We all wanted to help, but there wasn’t much that even the most skilled witch could do to fix a bullet wound into the head. Even with magic, some things were still impossible.
“My first victim,” I heard Serena state proudly as she walked back downstairs.
“Yeah, your first victim is a child, congratulations, Serena,” Nadia hissed, “You deserve a medal for that.”
The three of us left as soon as we could, making plans to come back and get the rest of the children no matter what within the next several days. I simply didn’t want to let them stay there longer than I had to - even if I had to move them to the False Manor and make that work.
For now, though, it was back to the woods for Nadia, Spencer, and me. We would then make our way back to the False Manor in the morning to figure out what all needed to be done before we could get the children back.
Nadia walked beside me while Spencer trailed behind us, keeping an eye out for any trouble.
We still didn’t know where Maya was since she, for once, wasn’t with Serena (presumably, I was certain she would’ve said something if she was there - I’d never known Maya Livingston to be that quiet for that long) and we didn’t know where Serena went after she left the shelter, so there was a possibility that we could get caught.
The only problem was that it was getting dark and I could feel my visions starting to take over my mind. Even Nadia’s attempts to help weren’t really doing anything. I was just trying to keep myself focused on getting back to our place from the night before and getting poor Spencer off of his foot. It wasn’t a bad injury, but he was definitely going to be limping around for a day or two while the place on his foot healed from the building block he was standing on.
I found the whole thing quite comical if I was being honest, but I was proud of him for keeping quiet that entire time nonetheless.
I adored Spencer, but he was kind of a baby when it came to tolerating pain.
Nadia looked around as we walked back to the woods, “Hey, guys, do you feel like something’s different?”
“Yeah, there are a lot fewer Synthetics around,” Spencer mused, “Maybe Serena just came to her senses and is letting up on all of us.”
I wanted to believe that, but I was still doubtful. Serena wasn’t one to go back on things - especially in such a short period of time.
Nadia shook her head, “No, no, not just that.”
I looked over at her, “What else is different, then?” I asked her.
Nadia sighed, “I can’t put my finger on it, but I just feel... free. We obviously aren’t, but I feel like we are.”
I nodded slowly, looking up at the rustling of leaves and smiled a little as I saw deer bounding around in the distance and a few birds flying up from the trees. I knew what she meant. At least, I thought I did until the ground began to shake.
We were all knocked to the ground and looked up at the sky as the barrier slowly began to fall as though someone was opening the door to our cage, welcoming us to stay or go if we so chose. We were finally free - we could’ve left right then and there, but we didn’t.
Wolf’s Hollow was our home and we weren’t going to be pushed out that easily - even by a witch like Serena Livingston.