The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) (4 page)

Laura was
drifting through a deep sea of blackness. Panic flared in her stomach,
travelling up her spine, wrapping around her neck with its sharp claws. She lay
on her back in foggy water, unable to move. Faces slowly drifted across the
dark sky above, and the panic held her head still, forcing her to watch. Her father,
her mother, Estella, Leo, the three kidnappers, the people from the paintings,
the other occupants of the manor, they all blurred together above her. And then
she could hear someone calling her name. Fear struck her like lightening as she
thrashed around, thick black liquid spraying up around her. Still, she was
forced to watch the faces above.
  ‘They are coming for you Laura,’ her dad whispered, and it was as if the
words had engulfed her.
  ‘You are different. You are special,’ her mother sang, her voice echoing
across the sea of blackness.
  ‘I know it’s hard to believe,’ Leo’s voice boomed overhead, the words swooping
down to meet her as she thrashed harder.
  ‘You are powerful,’ Estella whispered from beside Laura’s head and she jerked
away, breathing heavily.
  Then, as quickly as they had appeared, silence and blackness swept back over
the abyss above. Laura let out her breath and closed her eyes, but as she began
to relax, the faces loomed back up to her sides, surrounding her.
  They screamed.
  Her eyes flew open as she again began to thrash, trying to break free of the
invisible grip that rendered her immobile. Alarm and terror clasped their
greasy hands around her lungs, squeezing the air from them.
  ‘Stop it! I’m human! Stop! LEAVE ME ALONE.’
  She took a deep breath and with all her might, pushed herself beneath the
surface and down, into the murky depths of the black sea.

Laura sat
bolt upright in her bed, breathing heavily. Sweat pricked the back of her neck
and her eyes darted frantically across the room, searching for the faces. It
took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, she realised that, to
her relief, she was very much alone. Her eyes began to wander thoughtfully
across the room.
  Thin white curtains blew slightly in the breeze that swept through the open
window. Streams of light from the moon shone down over the foot of her bed. She
pinched the skin of her upper arm, hoping with all her heart that this was a
dream. A terrible, terrible dream she was yet to wake up from. However, as the
pain tingled beneath her pinch, she knew that this was reality.
  Laura pulled back the covers, dangling her feet over the side of the bed. She
rested her face in her hands for a long minute, then pushed back her tangled hair
and planted her feet firmly on the ground. She padded across the cold floor and
rested her hand on the cool brass handle of the door.
  Quietly, hesitating for only a moment, she turned the nob. She poked her head
out into the corridor, looking both ways. Dim lights shone down from the roof, illuminating
the hallway full of closed doors. She could see no movement around her so softly,
she tiptoed down the hall towards the library.
  Fumbling through the dark, Laura found the light switch and flicked it on, blinding
herself momentarily. She rubbed her watering eyes, willing them to hurry and
adjust. When they had, she began observing the paintings again. This time, she
noticed the distinct
‘W’
tattooed across the wrists of the Wizards and Witch.
  She drifted through the room, coming to a stop in front of the final
painting, the one of the Wizard who held the red light. His mark was slightly
different. It was not silver like the other two, but gold.
  ‘It’s hard to wrap your head around isn’t it?’
  Laura turned and watched as Caspian pushed himself upright from where he had
been leaning against the door frame.
  ‘I remember when they first told me I was a Wizard. I was in denial for weeks.
Kept wondering how it could all be possible.’
  He wandered forward, his hands laced behind his back, and came to a halt
before the first painting.
  ‘Did they tell you about me?’ Laura asked.
  ‘Yes. I’m so sorry about your father,’ he said softly.
  Laura didn’t say anything. She couldn’t, not without choking up again.
  ‘We’re all orphaned,’ he said.
  Laura’s mouth formed an ‘oh’ and guilt washed over her. She felt selfish for
acting as if everything was all about her.
  ‘Don’t feel bad, it was a long time ago for most of us,’ Caspian smiled as he
turned to face her.
  ‘None the less, I’m very sorry to hear that.’
  Caspian turned his gaze to the portrait before Laura. ‘This is Erebus Cain
Wizard. The first ever Wizard to walk the earth. The first to learn how to use
the power we possess.’ His voice was soft, his movements graceful.
  ‘What power exactly?’
  ‘There are a lot of aspects to our abilities, but I guess the most obvious
power we possess is the light. It is like electricity, and when inflicted upon
another can shock them, most of the time resulting in death. We call it Lightening.’
  ‘You can kill people with it? That’s awful!’
  ‘Not when you aren’t on the receiving end,’ chuckled Caspian, eyes creasing
slightly at the corners.
  She felt her mouth tug up into a small smile,
  ‘Ah, success!’ Caspian grinned and she allowed the smile to stay.
  ‘How was Erebus created?’ She urged him on. She watched his face as he spoke,
listening intently.
  ‘He was a genius, I guess you could say. A professor who was fascinated by
the alteration of human genes. He wanted to push the boundaries, modify the
human body, and make it do unbelievable things. He begun by experimenting on
lab animals, finding out what made them stronger, faster, smarter.
  ‘He soon pushed the tests too far as he started to try and entwine electric
circuits and lightening into that of an animal’s body. The experiment went
wrong, and he didn’t escape the testing lab in time. When he next awoke, he
possessed a power that soon began to consume his soul. He couldn’t stop there.
He wanted more. Improving the experiment, he lured his assistant and her
husband into the lab.’ Caspian paused, indicating with his hand at the first
two paintings.
  ‘Carmon and Josie Witch. But when the experiment was over, Carmon produced a
blue light and Josie produced a purple one.’
  ‘And he had been producing a red one,’ Laura appended.
  ‘Yes. Evil ran in his veins. He repeated the experiment over and over but
continued to fail. It drove him completely mad. Eventually he went into hiding,
devising a plan to destroy, what he called, ‘the failed attempts’.’
  ‘So he was going to kill all the Witches and Wizards?’ Laura inhaled as she
stared up at Erebus’ stone hard face.
  She wondered what it was that made a person good or evil. Was it something
they did that defined them as one of those elements? Or was it something that
was within them, something they were born with?
  ‘Yes,’ Caspian continued, breaking her out of her trance, ‘but many years
later when it came time for battle, he hadn’t anticipated just how strong they
were. And they had one more thing.’
  ‘What was it?’ Laura pressed, encouraging him to continue.
  Caspian pointed to a painting Laura hadn’t noticed before. It was of the
battle Caspian referred to. Erebus stood on one side of the field, the
Enchanted on the other. Then, Laura saw what Caspian had been gesturing to. A
woman, standing between Carmon and Josie, hands outstretched, green Lightening
flowing from them.
  ‘Mara Warlock. After a long fight, and the loss of many lives, she managed to
wipe out Erebus, who was yet to master the entirety of his lightening, draining
him of his own power, thus bringing the battle to an end and freeing the
Enchanted to live as they pleased.’
  They were both silent for a long moment, Laura peering up at Mara. It all
felt so real. As much as she didn’t want to believe it, she could feel the
truth in the story. She could see how the pieces fit together.
  ‘So after that, the Enchanted just went about their daily lives?’ she finally
asked.
  ‘Not quite. Almost a century after the battle, Evil loomed up on the Human
world and the Witches and Wizards came to realise that they had a power within
them that not only allowed them to defeat Erebus, but to enter a life long
battle with that Evil.’
  ‘The Lightening?’
  ‘Exactly.’
  ‘What kind of danger were they holding back?’ Laura questioned thoughtfully.
  ‘Monsters that lurk in the shadows and hope to feed on humans and Enchanted. We
call them Goblins.’
  ‘Goblins? Like, the ones from movies?’
  ‘Ahh… not quite. Even the Enchanted can turn evil, if they allow the power consume
them as Erebus did. And some did, creating the Goblin race. They are formed
when an Enchanted commits murder upon a human, Angel or other Enchanted. Their
Angel blessed soul which would have risen to Heaven, is instead banished to
burn in Hell. When a Demon enters the human world Goblins come through with
them trying to escape Hell and win back the power they once possessed. That is
why we must fight them. To protect the human world from them.’
  ‘So, if these ‘Goblins’ are real, why haven’t I ever seen one? Or any trace
of this world for that matter?’
  ‘You can see it now, can’t you?’ Caspian concealed a smile as she stared at
him, ‘I can only assume you hadn’t seen any of it before because you didn’t
know to look for it. We conceal it well.’
  She glanced at Caspian, and caught him watching her. Hoping to change the
subject, she pressed on, ‘and Goblins are all that threaten the mortals?’
  ‘God no!’ His eyes flickered away as he laughed, ‘we help to ward off the Demons
that attempt to possess humans. And we are forever battling the Wicked’
  Laura furrowed her brow, ‘I think Stella mentioned them. What are they?’
  Caspian hesitated, ‘at the age of eighteen we go through what is considered to
be the ‘final’ stage of our learning; The Ceremony, where the Gods determine if
we have good or evil in our heart. If we will remain with the Enchanted, or
will join the Wicked.’
  ‘And after that you will either have the red light indicating you are evil or
one of the other colours indicating you are good?’
  ‘Yes, exactly.’
  Learning more about the Spirit World seemed to put Laura’s mind a little more
at ease, and the way Caspian spoke made her believe,
really
believe,
that this world was capable of all he said it was.
  ‘What do the Wicked try and do?’ She probed him onwards.
  He seemed to pause for a moment, as slight as it was, before he answered, ‘there
are those that attempt to weaken the human race, and it is the job of a
Guardian to protect them. Leo used to be one before he came to work here at the
manor with Stell,’ Caspian explained.
  ‘Gosh, so he was good? At fighting Wicked I mean?’
  Caspian’s eyes widened as if to imply Leo was beyond good, ‘he was fantastic.
He’s quite intelligent, especially when it comes to discovering which tactics
and fighting methods are most effective. We have all learnt so much from him. He
and Stell are some of the best trainers out there. We are all very lucky.’
  Laura’s lips curved up into a smile at that. She thought Leo was nice,
although she didn’t really know him, but to hear that he was so well respected among
his students, was slightly more reassuring. She felt good knowing that he was
on her side, helping look for her mother, ‘that’s very sweet, that you all
admire him.’
  Caspian blushed lightly, but shrugged it off, ‘yeah, well.’
  She glanced sideways at him, ‘so what do the other of the Wicked do?’
  ‘Hmm?’ Caspian turned to her.
  ‘You said that the some of the Wicked try to wipe out the humans, what do the
others try and do?’
  ‘Oh, a lot of the time they actually attack us. Try to anyway. As it always
is, the evil and corrupt seek power, and what more power could you have than
running the entire planet?’
  The statement burnt itself into the back of her mind as her thoughts settled.
  ‘Of course we don’t let that happen because there are at least fifty Enchanted
to each of their one Wicked, and they are poorly trained,’ Caspian added and
she looked up from where her eyes had fallen to the floor, trying to absorb all
she had learned.
  Caspian continued, ‘I remember when I first found out I was a Wizard. There
were so many questions I wanted to ask, so much I felt I didn’t know. The
strangest part was, I had felt like I knew all there was to know; I thought I
understood the world, and suddenly I was dragged into the Spirit World and I
had to learn everything all over again.’
  Laura let out a sigh, relieved that someone finally understood, ‘that is
exactly how I feel.’ Her eyes flickered up at Mara Warlock, standing on the
battlefield ‘my mother is a warlock.’
  ‘Yes, and she was a very powerful one before she left this world. But you are
even more powerful than her.’
  Laura turned to face Caspian, ‘I have never felt powerful. I have never used
any ‘power’, how could I possibly be as great as everyone seems to think I am?’
‘We will teach you.’
  ‘And what ‘power’ do I have? Everyone keeps saying I’m
so
powerful,
but what do they mean by powerful? What can I apparently do?’
  Caspian frowned as a flash of something appeared on his face. Concern, Laura
thought. But it was gone seconds later and he returned his gaze to her before
answering, ‘I have to be honest, I don’t know what you are capable of. But
believe me, it will be something extraordinary. I can feel it.’ He was grinning
at her now.
  Laura smiled back, unsure of how to respond. Suddenly, Laura realised
something, and it terrified her.
  ‘The people who took my mother, the ones who want me, they hold the red light
don’t they?’
  Caspian nodded, ‘and we assume that’s why they want you. To try and turn you
evil at heart before you turn eighteen. To make you Wicked.’
  Laura glanced at the red light in Erebus’ hands.
‘I would never turn to their side.’

Later on,
when Laura had left the library, seeking much needed sleep, she couldn’t help
thinking about all she had learned. It seemed so unbelievable. So ridiculous.
How could it all be true? It was crazy. They were crazy. The thought had indeed
crossed her mind.
  But what reason do they have to lie?
She reasoned with herself.
  Instead, she asked herself how could her mother have hidden it all from her?
Surely she would have noticed if her mother had power. Or even herself! Yet she
could not recall a single time when something out of the ordinary had happened.
  A war was raging inside of her as she fought against her hope, her instincts
and the facts. She couldn’t help but believe it was all true. Again, she asked herself,
why would Caspian lie?
Why would any of them?