The Darkest Star

Ch. 21 The Witch

Melisande bared her teeth at the male across from her who winked and bit into his pizza. Pasha was busy seeing how red he could make poor Roland's face and Salem and Azrael were in their own world. Leaving her to deal with Liam who challenged her skills and laughed at every damn thing. She was pretty close to stabbing him with her butter knife and getting it over with. She did her best to ignore him and eat her mozzarella sticks. 

Every since leaving the house, she'd felt uneasy. Like she was waiting for something to happen. She couldn't get her muscles to relax and she flinched at every loud noice. Her hands were itching with the threat of her claws extending. Salem kept glancing at her the more the feeling grew, but still nothing happened.

"Maybe we should just take this to the Center and I'll show you how much experience you lack." Liam chuckled, showing off his mouthful of chewed food.

"I'll fucking destroy you." She said it lowly so the Humans in the restaurant couldn't overhear.

"Yeah, we'll see about that." He waved away her words and turned to Roland. "Ro, buddy, are you going to eat those?" He gestured towards the french fries the male was trying to eat but kept choking on from the small male's words.

"Fuck off, Liam." She answered for the big male.

"Or what? You gonna throw a tantrum, princess?" Melisande growled threateningly, causing some Humans to glance their way.

"Don't call me that." She ground out through clenched teeth.

"You're right, sorry, Queen bitch." Melisande about threw herself across the table but the sound of the bell on the door caught her attention. Melisande's eyes shifted to look past Liam, watching a tall skinny man saunter into the small Italian restaurant. His face was hidden by his brown hair and she could have mistaken him for any scraggly Human teenager in his black trench coat and combat boots. If it wasn't for his scent, or lack of one.

None of the others seemed to notice him and none of the Humans he passed acknowledged his presence. His head raised as he reached their table in the back and Melisande's eyes widened when she recognized him from the pictures the Council sent to her father. He seemed surprised when she met his completely black eyes.

Melisande jumped from her chair, causing it to crash as the Witch placed a hand on Salem's shoulder. His whispered words sounded like static to her ears but before she could reach him, he was gone and Salem tipped from his seat. Melisande grabbed the human before his head hit the floor.

"Salem!" Her hands shook as she pressed her fingers to his neck, exhaling weakly when she felt a steady pulse.

"What happened?" Azrael was taking the Human from her, holding his face in one large hand and trying to shake him awake. When that didn't work, he smacked him. Salem stayed unconscious and Melisande was on her feet in a instant. Running outside and frantically looking around the small town. When she couldn't see the skinny male in the trench coat, she rushed back inside to find the Humans calling an ambulance and everyone crowding around Salem.

"Pick him up, we have to go." Azrael wasn't listening, still trying to wake the Human. "I said let's go!" She snapped, finally getting their attention. Azrael met her eyes and she could see the panic in them. He nodded and carefully scooped Salem up, holding him close as they pushed through the Humans to get out the restaurant.

"What happened?" Pasha was close to tears, following along closely.

"Why didn't you all see him? He just walked in!" Melisande threw up her arms, her thoughts scattered as she tried to understand what she saw. "I need to calm down." She spoke to herself, taking a deep breath and exhaling. "That Witch," she spit like it was a curse. "He just, he walked in and he mumbled some shit I couldn't understand while touching Salem. Then he was just gone and Salem was tipping over!"

"Calm down." Liam spoke, griping her shoulders as he stood in front of her. She met his hazel eyes. "What Witch? Tell us what he looked like."

"It was the one, the one the Council is looking for. He, he...I don't know, he did something to Salem." Liam nodded along to her stumbled words as the other piled into the SUV. "I should have moved quicker, he shouldn't have gotten so close but I-I froze." She cried, letting Liam push her into the car.

"He'll be fine, he's still breathing, his heart is steady."

Melisande crawled in the back where Azrael held the little Human tightly. The car ride was silent. Roland didn't care to follow the law and got them back to the pack house in record time. One of them was smart enough to tell her parents what happened through the link. Melisande's mind was a mess of worry and guilt.

The car barely stopped before her mother was jerking open the door and crawling in the back to Salem. He looked to be asleep, his face peaceful. When the Madam Alpha made sure there was nothing life threatening, she ushered everyone out and to the part of the house that held the clinic. Her father had to force Azrael to let go of the Human so the healers could get to him. The door was closed in their faces and Melisande told her mother everything that happened.

Hours passed and she didn't even notice. Her mind had gone blank. All she could think about was how she had failed. She had promised to protect the Human and because she hadn't moved quick enough, he could die. And it'd be her fault.

There was nothing the healers could do and they didn't have a pack Witch, her father didn't trust them and with reason. Her father had called the closest neighboring pack to ask for help from their Witch who wouldn't arrive until the morning. Azrael wouldn't sit down, he just paced in front of the door to where Salem was and growled when anyone got to close. Viktor had come to sit with his brother who had fallen asleep against him. Roland and Liam stood close to Azrael.

Everything just happened so quickly. She couldn't keep up.

Snap out of it Mel. Salem can still be helped and now there's a Witch that needs to be killed.

Melisande jumped from her seat, gaining everyone's attention. She ignored them and ran out the room.

She didn't care to knock and flung open the male's door who was startled awake when the door slammed against the wall.

"Find him." She growled, pulling the male from his bed and pushing him into the chair in front of his monitors.

"What? Who? What's going on?" Xzavier rubbed sleep from his eyes and looked up at her.

"He did something to Salem, that Witch, find him!" The male just looked up at her blankly until her words registered. He jumped up.

"Salem? Is he okay?" Melisande gripped his shirt and pushed him back in the chair.

"There's nothing we can do sitting around waiting for someone else to do something. Find me that Witch, I want to know everything you can about him. Every secret, every fear. Find it." The male swallowed before nodding and turning to his monitors. The three screens lit up the dark room and Melisande paced.

He'll die for this, she'll make sure of it.