A Witch's Way

Chapter 7

Serena wheezed, noticing that her surroundings were changing from country-like to buildings. "Clark? Where the hell--" Serena stopped, almost tripping, "are we?" she continued once she safely was able to run more.

Clark froze for a second and hooted down an alleyway, as if afraid to go in. "I'm positive that Jasper is down that alley," Clark spoke confidently towards Serena.

Rosemary stepped beside Clark and Serena, eyeing the dark alleyway with weariness. "Be careful, Serena."

Serena nodded, holding herself up against the wall to catch her breath. After a few minutes, she straightened. She felt exhausted, but she needed to help Jasper. If he really was injured, she didn't want to think about what could happen.

Stepping into the shadow-filled alley, she spun around, hoping to see Clark and Rosemary there--but they were gone. As if they'd never been there with her. She was alone. She felt her pulse increase with the gnawing fear that grew from the smell of the alley that filled her nose and the fact that she was completely alone. Sure, she had magic, but she was already weakened from the fever she'd had.

Steeling herself, she stepped forward onto broken glass. The glass made a cracking sound and she winced, stretching her sore fingers out of nervousness. She took another step and another crack from the glass echoed down the alleyway.

"Rosemary? Jasper? Clark? Anyone?" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth so she could throw her voice. Nothing responded.

Serena stepped forward again and tried, this time, to avoid the glass on the ground. Something down the alley hit the ground and she pressed herself against the wall, shaking. Trying to focus on the task at hand, she tried to form a mental connection with someone she knew.

"Rosemary? Jasper? Clark? Come on, this isn't funny anymore..."

Nothing for a few minutes, and then,

"What do you mean this isn't fun? I think this is hilarious!" A voice spoke in her head, making Serena's blood run cold. She didn't know this person, she could already tell.

"Rosemary? Jasper? Come on, this isn't funny, knock it off..."

"Wrong! Guess again, Serena!" The voice spoke in her head again, and a laugh followed it, echoing through her skull.

Serena was afraid to move. She didn't want to move, not with some psycho able to talk to her in her mind like this. It was common to play tricks like this with others, but it's not common to do so in a dark alleyway, in the middle of the night.

"Come on! I love games--do you like games too? It's just a guessing game! Guess my gender, magic type, anything!"

Something moved in the alley and Serena felt the chill of the air on her arms. Sucking in a quiet breath, she doesn't respond to the pestering, child-like voice.

"You're really boring, you know that? Your friend here tried to play along, at least. Why don't we take it up a notch then?"

Serena still doesn't respond, only to feel something on her legs. She looks down and screams, trying to move her legs. Something black was crawling up them. It looked like a shadow.

"Don't struggle, don't struggle! Do you want him to eat you? Geez, you're stupid!"

Serena, although terrified, listened to the voice and held still. It was disgusting, sucking at her skin and dragging her down. She could feel her conscious slipping away once it reached her shoulders, her body was numb from the shoulders down. Shutting her eyes, she felt as if she was floating underwater. She couldn't tell which way was up and which was down, not to mention her ears felt like they were submerged too.