Blood-Lines

Chapter XVII -- Witchy Woman

Most people she'd met who practiced magic were of the common misconception that women could hope at best to suffer as mere witches while men could become powerful sorcerers or warlocks to control much of the knowledge that they'd impart to other male students of the craft.

The swift onset of her abilities while she'd suffered through the fires of puberty had shown such an assumption to be of but minor consideration rather than simple fact.

Fortunately, her mother had been able to hide her away from anyone who might have otherwise recognized the depth of her youngest child's new found abilities as a possible threat to the accepted order within the magical community at large.

Any spell that she'd read was quickly absorbed and mastered without much effort or practice as was often required from her male counterparts to be as successful at casting them as she was.

Sorcerer's books secretly acquired from their students only helped to expand her repertoire of skills, which often surpassed even her mother's expectations in the process.

Her body still hurt from the fall that she'd suffered while casting the last seeker that she'd sent to find her missing sister; hovered as she'd been above the hard wood floor of the hotel room while mired deep in spectral concentration.

Images of a beautiful young black woman with dark eyes and full lips had come to her from the seeker, followed thereafter by the flash of confused images that involved a mix of forest and blue sky that had become spun together as if in violent swirl.

Burning pain not unlike what she imagined to be the tip of a glowing brand had suddenly lanced through her back and out through her right breast as air was suddenly punched from her lungs and she fell to the floor only to knock over the candles that she'd carefully lit before she'd even started.

As she'd lain there, writhing in the purest agony of suffocation and blinding pain, she'd fought to regain her breath while she frantically clawed at the floor and kicked out at the bedpost in unbridled panic.

Fortunately, she'd been able to grab a pillow just as her breath had returned and used it to bury her face, quickly silencing howls of agony as she thrashed and the vision cleared only to leave her senseless and sprawled in pain across the floor.

Luck of the goddess one again had been with her as no one came to check on what noises that she may have made during the whole misadventure, perhaps attributing the sounds to rough fornication with a fellow passenger.

The inside of her right breast and back right shoulder were still tender to the touch and bruised red the next morning, along with other far more sensitive feminine areas not normally associated with what she'd seen in the vision; leaving her puzzled as to their significance.

Perhaps fornication forced upon her sister had produced the injuries as their result. Without experience of such acts to tell her differently, she'd only have to assume.

The unmistakable sign of marks from a lash that splashed across her back mixed with long bloody slices that she'd seen in the mirror only added to the mystery.

Wherever her sister Daniela was, she'd been badly assaulted and abused; reflection of her injuries cast back upon Clementine in their deeply painful entirety by happenstance of the seeker spell that had connected them.

Perhaps casting a safety circle next time would protect her from such violence if her vision proved to be as rough as it had the last time; with candles spread further apart and a pillow beneath her as she hovered to protect her tailbone from the hard landing that had sent waves of pain up her back.

Face flushed, as if slapped and her body sore from the mystical pummeling - she'd still managed to gingerly limp to the coach where she pulled herself up as carefully as she could onto the blessedly soft cushion of the seat.

It may have been by fortuitous chance alone that the vampires had arrived as they had to distract her from the pain of healing which they so eloquently had managed to do without even knowing.

Although she'd pulled her shade as asked, she knew perfectly well why they'd wanted to avoid the direct touch of sunlight.

There was no way in the seven gateways of hell that she'd be able to sleep while in such close proximity to the blood hunters as she was; silently calling out to the goddess for protection as they moved further west.

Her search for her missing sister Daniela had brought her further from the safety of her parent's home in King's Cross, Pennsylvania than she'd ever been while she'd traveled alone.

Daniela had left them the year before in search of her destiny on the other side of the country in a state called California.

When promised word of her arrival had failed to reach Daniela's parents, or her sister who'd waited in vain for any word from their eldest daughter; her parents had finally accepted Clementine's request to go and find answers.

Once cast, her seeker spells had only managed to send a mixture of confusing imagery given the distance that they'd had to travel just to locate her missing sister.

Well within easy reach of the killers across from her, Clementine wasn't sure if her trip would end as well as she'd hoped it would when she'd initially set out.

Perhaps she would leave the vampires to their journey at the next opportunity. She'd heard the name Goblin's Toe, Wyoming called out just this morning as their next stop before they were scheduled to cross over into the western frontier and territories beyond.

With any luck, she'd be safe in a hotel room and away from the tight confines of this rolling box and the blood hunters who'd ridden with her.

Meanwhile she simply returned their smiles as each watched the other.

When they finally arrived, the town of Goblin's Toe was as she'd expected it would be.

Dusty streets, worn clapboard buildings and boardwalks to either side. Two water towers rose into the sky that marked corrals with a blacksmith's shop built between them.

The vampires left the coach without a word, walking arm in arm as they headed toward the nearest tavern; direct sunlight apparently not having quite the affect that she'd hoped it would have for them.

Once she'd picked up her bag, she set out to find lodging before she tried to locate information that might otherwise reveal the possible whereabouts of her sister.

Somehow, she assumed it would not be the last she'd see of Leviticus LaRouchette or the raven-haired Natalia before the stage carried them further on toward California without her.

Relieved to find quiet confines within the hotel Long Branch, she walked through tables set for dinner as a slender golden haired woman wearing an apron set places for guests.

The young man behind the counter welcomed her and took her silver coins in payment for the twelve-dollar weekly rate; offering as it did for that price a suite with a commode and bathtub that she would not have to share with anyone other than herself.

The single bed, chair and small set of drawers greeted her when she'd closed the door and locked it behind her. An oblong claw foot tub sat against the far wall, which would help her body heal once she'd finished checking out the rest of the town; a sign nailed to the wall also indicated hot or cold water was available from the staff as needed; free for as much cold water as you might want while a penny got you a bucket of hot water.

At the mention of her sister's name, the hotel owner had suggested that she start at a place called Phoebes; while he cautioned her about the nature of the business transacted there which also made him suggest that she strongly consider the sheriff as her first stop.

With trap and cloak spells carefully placed to secure her bag in the room, she headed out to visit the telegraph office where she could send word of her travels to her parents that would be waiting for such news back east.

Then, and only then, would she go in search of the sheriff and the place called Phoebes.