Part One: Chapter Thirteen

Part One: The Spider

Chuck moaned, a low grumble in confusion and ache. The pain radiated from her foggy head. When her vision proved blurry, she wished horribly for her eyeglasses. Her brain tried to make sense of the unclear world around her. As she tried to stretch her arms, she realized that they were tied behind her with rope. The heavy strained breaths she found released through her own mouth as they struggled against a gag. Even though it was muffled, she chanted, “Ropes that bind, ropes that tie, release my hands from behind, and help me understand why.” Her freed hands wiggled joyously. Nervously, Charlotte squinted ahead, but saw little. A fierce jerk, a sudden halt, she flew forward onto the floor. Her ear pressed against the scratchy carpet. Clearly, she recognized a thick rumbling. A car! That’s where she was. A car.

“F**k, did the damn thing just fall? What if it wakes up?” The voice was a purr, faintly familiar to Chuck. At the least, she noticed its masculinity.

“Bah! Hush! It’s not going to wake up. It’s only midnight. With that brew, it would be lucky to wake up at noon two days from now. Trust me; I’m a math teacher,” A woman’s voice hissed. A math teacher? Ms. Aldren? With another thrust of the car, Ms. Aldren snapped, “Then again, your manic driving might wake it up!”

Chuck’s face slapped the machinery under the driver’s side seat. Nonchalantly, she reached her hands to her face to release the gag.

“Let me check it.” The woman’s voice said.

Immediately Chuck dropped her hands behind her and shut her eyes.

“Looks like it’s still asleep. Let’s keep it that way,” She sneered.

The man laughed. “What’s it going to do anyway? We have all its tricks up here. And it’s practically blind. And it has a bum leg. And it’s tied up.”

“Not quite. Someone didn’t tie the ropes tight enough. Pull over and I’ll retie them. Giovanni and Annette were idiots to trust the likes of you to return the girl.”

The car jerked left; Chuck’s already sore head hit the side of the car. As the air around Chuck became frigid and cold, she fought to keep her eyes mimicking slumber. Roughly, four hands pulled her up and shoved her against the cool metal of the car. The coarse rope scuffed her wrists as they started to tightly weave it around. She muttered barely above a whisper, “Freeze them like ice, freeze them like sleet, it’d be nice to be quick on my feet.” When the ropes dropped, Chuck turned and ripped off the gag.

The man and the woman did not halt entirely, but moved much slower almost as if they were caught in something gluey and rather unpleasant.

Chuck’s heart drummed in her chest as she circled the car, unsure how large it was at first because of her eyesight. She fumbled around in the front seats for her backpack and glasses. Her backpack, still full met her fingers first. The wire-framed eyeglasses were small and difficult to locate. Hopeful, she opened the glove box. The cool pliable metal and thin delicate glass felt like a miracle. Relieved, she rested them on her nose. A crunching throbbing yet disgustingly familiar pain seized her leg.

A panther dark as midnight, blending in with the night sky chomped on her calf. Its only visible features were its light emerald eyes and its pearly white teeth stained with the blood running down Chuck’s leg. Such pain and the memory of such similar agony gripped her, suffocating her. Her breathing turned shallow.

Victoriously, the cat released its grip. Sleek and flagrant, it stared at her, smirking. Such a gracefully animal was tainted with human emotion. This was a shifter, the one that worked for whomever had hosted that dinner but a few days ago.

As Chuck turned closer to fainting, blood ran down her tattered pant leg. Though, she didn’t remove her stare from the creature. Anger flooded through her, replacing the hopelessness. From her mouth shot the same words, she had barked to Ellen, words she couldn’t understand.

The creature flew back with a wounded cry. Chuck took a long swig from the red bottle. The wound on her leg disappeared. The wet blood still covered most of the leg. The night air whipped through the gaping hole in the sweatpants to the exposed calf. “I have another thing to beg, I need to run away, so heal my leg.” The underlying ache in Chuck’s knee that always lingered was gone. Chuck grinned. Too caught in the moment, Ms. Aldren tackled her.

“Stupid little witch! How dare you and your little friend try to use spells on me! I ought to kill yo-” After Charlotte shoved her roughly, she skidded across the road. The red water bottle had rolled near her. Ms. Aldren unscrewed the cap with a wild grin. Then she poured it on the pavement. “Oh well.”

Regaining her old agility, Chuck sprang up, rounded the car, and jammed the keys out of the ignition. With a grunt and a good throw, she chucked them into the woods. “Oh well.” She shrugged. Swiftly, she scooped up her backpack and bolted. She would deal with them later.

Still disoriented, the panther, now a disheveled naked man tried to change back to his quick-moving form. Instead, he fainted from the hit against the pavement.

Ms. Aldren pursued her, but Chuck’s speed was too much for her. She fell far behind with little breath. She called out bitterly for the girl.

Had she not been in so much danger, Chuck would’ve felt…amazing. The rush of the wind through her hair, the exertion of her muscles felt more relieving than ever. Each lungful of air tasted sweeter. More than ever in the darkness, she needed to focus on turns and directions.

The DiRagno’s home seemed twice as creepy in the dark, contrasting the light dusting of snow upon the ground. The peeling Victorian paint was like the night sky, perfectly and ominously dark.

Chuck swallowed hard, trying to muster the courage to climb the hill. How had being a witch been so fake a week ago and yet now, her whole life depended on this one act of sorcery. It was surreal. Slowly, Chuck walked up the hill to catch her breath, to prolong the journey, to savor what might be her last moments of life. She recognized that she had missed Christmas and used this moment to tell her family how much she loved them. Hoping it was not the last time, Chuck pulled out an old photograph from her pocket. Two parents, a son who just won his last football game, a daughter who had just received phenomenal times at her first cross country meet; they were the perfect family. There was only one fourth left, one fourth that wasn’t ready to give up. This one fourth was ready to fight for her family, her dead family. Before she knew it, Chuck was at the door. She knew when she entered Ellen wouldn’t answer, Chuck wouldn’t take her shoes off, Mr. DiRagno wouldn’t be in his study, and Mrs. DiRagno wouldn’t be drinking tea. It was all so different. It would all be like a nightmare, like an awful delirium. The pressure on Chuck’s shoulders reminded her that she could run away from this place to never return. She shook her head no. “No, damn it!” In her head, she thought of a few quick rhymes to hurt anyone that may stand in her way. No matter how deathly, perilous, idiotic, heroic, costly, or excruciating, Chuck opened the creaking door to the stately manor.

Author's Note

Part One: The Spider will be concluding shortly...

Reviews

[Ardeth Lane]

She made up the rhymes on the spot? And they worked? I like it. I don't know if EVERY witch can do that but it seems like something that will come to her aide (sp?) later on. I am amazed with the math teacher part...always knew they were evil. But are they binding the ropes by hand or with spells? You probably clarified that but, I didn't quite catch it. I like how confident they're acting. Like there's NO WAY Chuck could have woken up and said a spell to untie the ropes. I would have thought someone would have guessed it but, like I said, they seem confident. And confidence can blind you from the truth.

Furthermore, I wish Chuck good luck and am awaiting the next chapter:)