Of Witches and Ghosts

Midnight Rendezvous With The Dead

She looked at her bedside clock. It was 2:14 in the morning. Sam was a natural night owl; being awake at such an ungodly hour was hardly jarring.

Sleep was hopeless and, honestly, she wouldn't accept it right now after that dream.

Don't forget your belt satchel...

Sam stumbled out of bed and went to her duffle bag. After relentless digging, she pulled out a belt with a small leather satchel attached to it.

She sat with her back to her new bed and opened the satchel's lid. Inside she found small glass vials and bottles, all of them filled with different colored liquid, potions Barbra had apparently packed before they had parted ways. Sam took some out and held them up to the light.

A note fell out of the satchel, set loose by the removal of the bottles.

"Dear Ivy,

Couldn't let you go unprotected, could I? Just some basic protection-shield potions and ones designed to sap an enemy's energy. There are also one or two anti-ecto potions and a pouch of blood blossom seeds. You may need them; the research I did said there are a lot of ghosts there, the anti-ecto should help clean your clothes, and the Blood Blossoms make for very good anti-ghost remedies. The recipes are in the book, just in case.

Love you,

Batgirl.

Her large room felt too confining all of a sudden.

Sam grabbed a pair of dark green jeans, a dark purple sweater and her favorite pair of black joggers. She changed into her clothes quickly before putting on the belt-satchel and clipping the compass to one of her jeans' belt loops.

She gave her Circle of Five jacket a sorrowful look. It was too soon to even think about putting it on; she grabbed a black leather trench coat instead. She climbed out the window before shutting it very carefully from the outside and began her descent.

Sam thanked all the earth spirits and deities she knew for the ivy ridden latticework that covered the entire wall that she was now using to climb down. The moment Sam's feet hit the ground, she recognized the feeling. It was a pull; the natural instinct that all witches had to prepare for any paranormal and, in some cases, demonic attacks.

There was something odd about this pull, however. It was like it was calling specifically to her. The wind whispered in her ear, telling her she was fated to see what was causing the pull. Her feet started to move of their own accord.

She walked for a good ten minutes before she realized she had gone further than just down the road. Sam's eyes scanned the darkened sky when she noticed that bright flashes of light were flickering just beyond the tree line in the park.

"Damn." Sam shook her head, knowing that was exactly where the ruckus was coming from. She tried to tell herself to stay away and not get involved, but her witch's instinct to deal with the supernatural was too strong. It was a pull so powerful that she had no choice but to comply.

Alright! Alright, I can't fight it. I'll go check it out. But that's it! I'm still not casting anymore.

Sam's pace sped up and she stepped through the trees to see two battling figures fighting fifteen meters above the ground.

The fight was fast-paced. The smaller of the two was a white-haired youth, dressed in a black jumpsuit. His opponent was larger and reminded Sam of a bodybuilder with white skin and wispy green hair. His body seemed to be made out of metal.

The fight finished within moments of her arrival when the smaller white-haired fighter sucked the metal specter into what appeared, to Sam at least, to be a soup thermos. The remaining fighter fell slowly to the ground. Controlled, Sam realized, just like Barbra when she got her powers of levitation, not as powerful or consistent as that of the fighter's but still...