Page 8 of Payback is a Witch

“Sorry?” I breathed the question and frowned at my hand. I didn’t mean to hurt her if that’s what she was accusing me off.

“I don’t want to be an anthill, Hazel.” Referring to what happened to anyone unfortunate to be hit by my magic, she increased her glower. “Watch it.”

“I am watching it you crazy female.” Yanking my shoes off angerly one by one I wiggled one in her face. “I didn’t use any magic.” A sigh escaped me when my bare feet connected with the cold stone of the floor and I didn’t want to argue anymore. “At least not on purpose. My pentagram tingled though.” I scratched at it with my thumb for emphases.

Sissily cocked her head slightly a thoughtful expression on her face. When I was about to ask her what she’s thinking she shook her head and motioned me to follow her to the far corner of the chamber pass the simple wooden alter. I wondered how she expected us to know what they were talking about in the other room when the place was as silent as a tomb when we weren’t bickering in whispers. You couldn’t hear a thing.

My best friend rushed in the corner and dropped on her knees so close to the wall I fully expected her to headbutt it. She expertly maneuvered her body to avoid hurting herself and started poking at the floor with her fingers. Thinking she might need help I edged closer and kneeled gingerly next to her, holding a hand pressed to my stomach. That damn whisky was ready to punish me for gulping it down instead of savoring it. Acid was bubbling in waves forming sweat on my hairline and upper lip. That would’ve been a perfect time to use a refreshing spell if I knew one. Since despite all the power I now had I was still useless as a witch unless I needed to kill someone I pressed my lips together and endured the misery.

“It should pop right off.” Sissily kept fidgeting with whatever she was attempting to rip out of the floor.

All I could focus on was holding the contents of my stomach inside and to keep scratching the pentagram on my finger. Hecate knew it was driving me insane and I had to prevent myself from screaming in frustration. So, nostrils flaring, I breathed deeply as slowly as I could. Luckily, I opened my eyes just in time to see Sissily yank something off the floor with such force she pitched backward, the back of her skull aiming right at the cold stone beneath us.

Forgetting all about my nausea I dived underneath her, so my back took the brunt of the impact with her head. She gasped but my grunt was low and pained and I gagged when I tasted acid in my mouth. Taking all of my best friend’s weight regardless of how tiny she was pushed all the churning acid up toward my mouth. One of my shoes was also kicked by one of us, I had no idea who did it, and it cluttered toward the alter breaking the eerie silence.

“We are as quiet as an elephant in a china shop.” Sissily hissed flailing around so she could get herself off me.

I stayed silent because if I tried to say a word everything was going to spill out of my mouth.

Literally.

All my misery was forgotten when the conversation from the room next to us spilled through. It was coming from the floor so curious as a cat I swallowed thickly and crawled to join my bestie in the corner. When my knee bumped hers I finally saw what she was struggling with since we entered the chamber. She ripped out the covering from a vent located where the wall met the floor. It sat at perfect nighty degree angle and I frowned at it, not understanding why would anyone place a vent there.

“This whole place is weird.” I muttered through clenched teeth still fighting the nausea. “Who puts an air vent in a corner? Idiotic.”

Random conversation about the quality of the stone used for the coven building trickled to our ears, but we ignored it hoping to hear something important if we got lucky.

“It’s not an air vent.” Sissily breathed so low I barely heard her.

“Hmm?” when she fully ignored me like I wasn’t glaring at the side of her head I bumped her shoulder with mine. “What?”

“We should be quiet.” She mouthed, dramatically shaping each word with her lips like I was a dumbass.

“What did you say?”

Rolling her eyes at my persistence she huffed in annoyance. “It’s not an air vent.” She mumbled and pointed at the now open hole in the corner of the room.

Curiosity killed the cat but I leaned forward until my forehead was firmly pressed on the wall and I peered inside it just as a female voice came through loud and clear as if she was kneeling right next to us.

“Are we going to have a pleasure of meeting your granddaughter, Danika?” the accent was astute, but it still made the female sound cold and robotic. Almost as if she was faking it just because she wanted to sound sagacious.

My heartbeat picked up and thudded in my ears loud enough to mute whatever answer Danika gave her. Being pressed to the wall the way I was should’ve helped but it didn’t when the chamber tilted and spun making me pitch sideways onto Sissily. Both my hands came up to press over my mouth a second too late. The bubbling acid was determent to come out and there was no stopping it. Not wanting to barf all over Sissily I shoved myself hard with both hands off the wall and twisted in the opposite direction right in time for the projectile vomit to splash all the way to the wooden alter which was sitting unassuming in the middle of the space.

“Hecate help us.” Sissily gasped but her voice sounded very far away.

My heartbeat was drumming harder and the pentagram turned from being itchy into trying to burn itself out of my skin. Unfortunately, I was powerless to do anything about it, apart from expelling three more sprays until all the contents of my stomach were on the floor. Silently I vowed that I would never drink whisky again. Which I rectified and reworded after I had nothing else to eject from my body. Never was such a long time. A month should do the trick of staying away from the whisky to teach it a lesson.

“You okay?” Sissily’s voice came in shaky and very close to my ear. Couldn’t she smell the vomit? I already wanted to gag again.

“Yeah.” I told her on a groan and pushed myself up and away from the mess. That’s when I realized that my bestie was holding my hair and tears prickled my eyes. “Thanks.”

“Thank me later.” The panic which was the reason her voice sounded shaky registered in my brain and my vision cleared immediately when I locked my eyes on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re headed here.” Sissily rushed to whisper just as we heard the door start to open.

Chapter 5

---