Witch Island (18 page)

Margaret ran back to the kitchen. Jonathan was standing by the front door, holding a knife at his side. He looked at Margaret. “I’ll hold them off. Take the gun and leave out the back.”

“The house is surrounded,” she said.

More windows exploded as rocks came through, followed by torches. She grabbed the kettle and doused a fire close to her, but it was pointless, as the whole house was aflame. The ceiling was aglow with orange, and the air was thick with smoke, making it difficult to breathe.

Jonathan was doubled over, coughing.

Margaret hurried to him. He finally stopped coughing and looked into her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Tears filled their eyes as they held each other.

“We have to…leave,” Margaret said, coughing. “Stay behind me.” She left her husband and grabbed the shotgun.

Jonathan blocked the doorway. “No. I’ll go out first and distract them, while you make a run for the forest.”

“Never!” she said. “I’ll never leave you.” Knowing he would try something stupid, she shoved him aside, yanked open the flame-engulfed door and charged outside, shotgun in hand.

“There she is,” someone yelled.

“Get her,” another said. “Don’t let her escape.”

“Leave us alone,” Jonathan yelled from behind her.

Margaret spun and saw her husband standing in the doorway of their house. A loud snap and the crash of timber sounded from above. The house shifted. Jonathan stepped forward in an attempt to flee, but tripped and fell. Flaming beams came down, crushing his legs, setting him on fire.

“Nooooo!” Margaret screamed as she ran to him, but before she reached him, his entire body was in flames. His cries became gargled as he thrashed around, begging for help.

There was nothing she could do. She fell to her knees, crying, her heart wrenched in agony.

The crowd looked on, with stunned and confused expressions on their faces. No one moved. Then they raised their weapons, faces now angry snarls. Three men ran at her. She pivoted around and raised the shotgun. All three men stopped short, terror written across their faces. Margaret aimed at one man and fired, sending her target to his grave. She didn’t stop there, and fired at the next man, hitting him in the face, obliterating his jaw and throat. He fell over, clawing at what was left of his head. Blood gushed from the exposed arteries. Teeth littered the ground. One of his eyes was dislodged from the impact, and was dangling against his cheek.

The third man stared at his friends, then at Margaret. His eyes narrowed. “She’s empty,” he yelled.

The crowd swarmed in. Five men came forth, holding axes, sickles and hammers. Margaret flipped the gun around, gripping it by the heated barrels, and swung it like a club, hitting one of the men in the head. His mouth opened and eyes rolled back as he fell to the ground. She readied the weapon again and heard her husband’s cries. He was still alive.

She spun around, but only saw an unmoving, burning corpse, the jaw hanging open. Tears streamed down her face as the realization hit her hard, and then something cracked her over the head, and everything went dark.

The next thing she knew, she was tied to a pole on the island, burned alive. Her remains were buried, and left to rot.

Now, all these years later, Margaret’s spirit seethed with rage.

Another spike from the devil’s barricade was removed, the crushing weight, the binds, lessening. Then another, and another, until only one remained. Vengeance would soon be hers.

Chapter Sixteen

“I think that’s all of them,” Julie said, holding one of the spikes. Taking a look at the ground, she saw that, where the spikes had been, they formed an elongated hexagon, with the iron pole at the head.

Shay grabbed her backpack and placed all five of the spikes inside, then added Julie’s. She put the bag down and stepped into the hexagon. She stepped out, waited a few moments, then stepped back inside.

“What are you doing?” Julie asked.

“This is incredible,” Shay said. “The air is much warmer here.”

“Bullshit.”

“No, really.” Shay stepped outside the hexagon. “Try it.”

Julie did, and as soon as she crossed the invisible threshold, where the spikes had been, her body heated up, as if she’d stepped onto a city vent, but without the gust. “Whoa,” she said, then stepped back, and felt cooler air surround her again.

“See?” Shay asked.

“Incredible is right.” Julie stepped back onto the soil within the six-sided shape and felt warm air encompass her again, but this time, the air was extremely hot, like the air directly above the campfire. She found it difficult to breathe. She needed to move, to get out, but her body wouldn’t respond. The hot air wafted around her, slithering along her flesh like unseen serpents, leaving a scorching slime over her entire body.

Terror took hold and she tried to scream, but her mouth was frozen shut. Something bad was happening. She felt it in her gut. They’d done something wrong when they removed the spikes, as if the shiny nails had held something in check. Her insides were on fire. Movement was impossible, and she wondered if she was having some kind of seizure. Her vision wavered for a moment, like when she looked through the glass window of an oven set on high, then cleared. The heat level within her rose to extreme levels, and she wondered if her insides were turning to mush. She was being microwaved from the inside out. Then her body suddenly went numb and she moved, but it wasn’t under her control.

The possession took hold. The witch had made it out of her grave and into the body of a girl. She steadied herself, feeling wobbly on her feet. She flexed her arms, jaw and legs.

“Are you okay?” the girl next to her asked.

The witch nodded. She went through the girl’s mind, learning all that she knew, becoming Julie Clark.

“Because you look like you might fall over,” Shay said, and placed a hand on Julie to settler her. “Damn, girl, you’re warm. You better get out of there.”

The witch stepped out of the circle, taking the heat with her, feeling reborn, alive. “It’s gone,” the witch said, using Julie’s voice. “No more heat.”

Shay stepped into the hexagon. “You’re right. What the hell happened?”

The witch ignored her and walked over to the campfire. She eyed Julie’s crush, Steve. The boy was an original descendant of the ones who had killed her. She did not know how she knew this, but she did. She scanned the group, setting her sights on the blond-haired kid, Jim Ryan. Her eyes widened. She knew this name. Ryan. Then she remembered the town constable from her time—Kenneth Ryan.
So,
she thought,
this is the lawman’s kin.
She would make sure to deal with him later.

“Have fun playing in the dirt?” Steve asked.

“More than you know,” the witch said. She laid a finger on his shoulder, then traced it up his neck to his chin, feeling something odd, almost painful. The boy was protected, her power unable to be used on him. She looked over Steve’s form, taking notice of the ring on his right hand. It was old, handcrafted and held the signature of a warden. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered what he had done to her. But not to give away her disdain, she smiled and pulled Steve from his seat on the log, making sure to grab him by his left hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“Where are we going?” Steve asked.

Pulling him along, Julie said, “Away from here, and somewhere more private.” She turned her head, winked at him, then faced forward again.

Steve chugged the beer in his hand, then tossed the can over his shoulder.

“Looks like someone, and an unlikely someone, is getting lucky before the rest of us,” Paul said.

Whistles and catcalls came from the group as Julie led Steve into the woods.

A branch scraped Steve’s cheek just below his right eye, causing him to flinch. “I can’t see a thing. How do you know where you’re going?”

“My eyes adjusted to the dark,” Julie said, then pulled the flashlight from her pocket and flicked it on. “Better?”

“Much, but I have to admit, I’m a bit curious about where we’re going.”

“You know, for a boy who is getting dragged into the woods by a horny girl who likes him, you’re pretty stupid. Are you trying to kill the moment?”

Steve’s heart sank at hearing Julie’s words. The way in which she had said them was cold. But he had been acting like a child, wondering where she was taking him.
Duh, you moron,
he thought
. She’s taking you into the woods to get laid, or at least blow you.

Steve didn’t need anything from her, at least not yet. He was happy just to be hooking up with a nice girl, a girl he hadn’t stopped thinking about, even when he was with Kelly. Of course, he wouldn’t mind having sex with Julie—in fact, he very much wanted to. He hoped it wasn’t moving too fast, but if she wanted him, she was going to have him. He wasn’t wasted, just a little buzzed, which was good because he’d last longer. Couldn’t have his first time with her be a stinker.

“Sorry?” Steve said, then squeezed her hand, letting her know how much he enjoyed being with her.

“It’s okay,” she said, and squeezed back. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Then be a good boy and walk with me.”

The witch took him to a small clearing. She turned off the flashlight, the moon’s illumination casting a soft hue over the tall grasses as they swayed ever so gently in the breeze. The air smelled sweet, but with a hint of swamp rot, the mixture pleasant and intoxicating to the witch. She faced Steve, making sure to be careful of his ring-wearing hand. She needed to take her time, get him to obey, but the kid stepped forward, reached up with his hand and grabbed her neck in what she could only guess was an attempt at a passionate embrace.

The witch cried out and shoved Steve away.

“What?” he asked. “What did I do?”

“Nothing,” she said, rubbing her neck and feeling the singed flesh. The kid looked spooked, his face pale, breaths coming fast. She needed him calm. “I think my hair got caught in your ring. Damn, that hurt.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, stepping toward her.

“Yes,” she said, holding out her arm. She wanted to snap his neck, drink his blood, eat his liver and heart. She forced a smile, trying to appear seductive, using the images from her host’s mind.

Steve saw the look of annoyance on Julie’s face vanish, replaced with a warm smile. Relief flooded through him. She wasn’t upset at his clumsiness. So far, with his earlier comment, and now this, he was zero for two. He needed the rest of the night, especially the current situation, to go smoother, go right.

“You know what I’ve always wanted to do?” Julie asked.

Steve thought about guessing, but decided to just shake his head.

“Run naked through the woods, pretending I’m a nymph from some fairytale.”

Steve’s eyes widened as Julie pulled off her shirt, dropping it at her feet. Her black lace bra looked ready to burst with goodness, her pale breasts glistening under the moonlight.

“Like what you see so far?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

Steve’s heart was beating fast. His groin tingled with excitement, soft becoming hard.

Julie giggled, then reached behind to her back and removed her bra, letting it drop to the ground, revealing rather large-for-her-size breasts. She grinned at him while cupping them, nipples erect.

Steve’s mouth dropped open, his eyes staring.

Julie slid her hands from her breasts, down her hips to her jeans, then yanked them off, kicking them into the grass.

Damn,
Steve thought,
Julie has a tight little body.
His penis was as hard as a rock. He was going to blow his load before he even took his pants off. He’d just have to make sure he came twice. If he was going to be a one-second man, he was going to make sure Julie knew he could go a few times.

Julie had her panties off in seconds, revealing a neatly trimmed mound of pubic hair. She held the skimpy undergarment up, smiled, then flung it at Steve’s chest.

Steve couldn’t move. Julie was incredible, not because she was naked and extremely hot, with her wild red hair and creamy skin, but because she was being herself, and more than comfortable around him. From what he knew of her, and he had asked a lot about her when he had first met her, she wasn’t the sleep-around, easy type.

“You just going to stand there?” Julie asked. “Or get naked and join me?”

“I…um…” Steve stuttered.

“Take it off, big boy,” Julie said, licking her lips. “I want some of what you’ve got.”

As much as Steve wanted to, he wasn’t sure this was such a smart idea. A good one, hell yes, but not a wise one. He’d jumped into the sack when he met Kelly, and look what happened. He didn’t want to ruin the potential relationship he could have with Julie. Well, at least most of him cared. The thing in his pants only wanted one thing.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but aren’t you worried that having sex so soon might ruin everything?” Steve looked down, unable to meet her eyes. “I mean, you’re beautiful, and I’d like nothing more than to be with you, but—”