Page 36 of The Soulless Witch

Lily’s expression turned pitiful. After we had agreed on my staying, they bombarded me with questions, most of which I couldn’t answer. I told them a bit about me—that I was almost two thousand years old, that I sold my soul to a demon in exchange for reviving me so I could enact my revenge. When I reached the part where I had died over a hundred times and saw their horrified expressions, I decided that maybe they weren’t ready for the whole story.

“Why are you up?” I asked. From what I had gathered during my stay here, Lily was definitely not an early riser, and with most of her classes in the afternoon, she usually didn’t leave her room before noon.

“I…” Her face flushed, and she looked down at her hands, squeezing her fingers nervously. “I wanted to know more,” she said so quietly I barely caught it. “Mom and Dad want to give you space and Jake…well, Jake is Jake, but I…learning that magic is real and the supernatural world is real, and that there are so many creatures out there…you don’t know what it’s like for me. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved reading all kinds of books, but the supernatural stories have always been my favorite. I’ve imagined what the world would look like if all those things existed so many times, and now that I know they do…I can’t…I can’t wait to find out more!” She raised her head, staring at me with bright eyes full of curiosity and pure joy. “And I know there are monsters and everything, but I want to know. I want to learn everything! So please, I know you think that the more we know, the more danger we’d be in, but that’s not true. I think the more we know, the more prepared we are for anything that might happen.”

I chuckled without meaning to, and her face turned even redder. Nym opened his eyes again, studying the girl for a long moment before looking at me. He said nothing.

“Fine.” I sighed, trying not to laugh at the delight that lit up her face. “Under two conditions.” Lily’s smile wavered slightly, but she nodded. “First, you will do exactly what I say, no questions asked. If I ever tell you to run or hide, you do it even if you don’t agree. Alright?” She nodded eagerly. “And second…” I turned my head, so I was fully facing her, and she shifted nervously. “Tell me why your parents wanted me to stay. With you, that’s obvious. I doubt Jake’s opinion mattered, so why did your parents want me to stay?”

The light drained from her eyes, and her shoulders slouched. She looked away, pulling her legs to her body and wrapping her arms around them. I raised an eyebrow, wondering if this was her way of saying she didn’t want to talk about it when she spoke.

“Eleven years ago, my sister disappeared. We went to school, we had class, she wanted to go to this store on the way back, but I wanted to catch a movie with my friends. So she went alone.” Lily’s fingers dug into her legs, her jaw locking. “When I came back from the movie, she wasn’t home. She didn’t return that night, so we went to the police. They searched for two weeks before they found her body—whatever was left of it. The only reason they knew it was her was because of a severed finger they found at the crime scene. I never saw the body, but I heard the policemen talking. They said that whatever killed her couldn’t have been human. Of course, in the end, they labeled it as an animal attack, but I knew, I just knew…and my parents, they…” She paused, releasing a long breath. “She would have been around your age now.” Lily looked cautiously at me as if to check my reaction. “Not your real age, but the age you look now.”

I pursed my lips, looking down at my familiar who was staring at the girl with a thoughtful expression.

“I’m not your sister, Lily,” I said gently and when I looked up, I noticed tears swimming in her eyes.

“I know, we know,” she said with a somber smile. “But my parents thought that if maybe someone helped my sister the way my father helped you, maybe she would be alive now. At least, that’s what they said.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “But ever since she died, there has been this hole in our family that we’ve been ignoring. It’s not that we’re unhappy, but…not whole. And since you started living with us, it’s like that hole has become smaller. We are not trying to replace her or anything, but it feels nice having you around. Just like it would have been with my big sister.” I licked my lips, trying to find the right words. Lily sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes widening as she raised her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry, don’t get me wrong! We don’t see you as her replacement, of course, we just…”

I squinted my eyes at the first rays of sunshine peeking over the horizon while Lily grew quiet.

“I had a sister once,” I said, still staring at the roof. I could no longer recall clearly the faces of my family or the people I met in my past lives. With every new awakening, my old memories grew fuzzier, details melting into black, and old vendettas fading into oblivion. All except one…

Clearing my throat, I turned to Lily as I continued.

“She was younger than me, a real troublemaker. She once raised all the dead cats and dogs in the village and made them return home because she thought that would make people happy. Our neighbors were not amused.”

Lily’s jaw dropped, and the sadness drained from her eyes, replaced by awe.

“Wait, did you say all thedeadcats and dogs? Like dead dead?” she exclaimed, scooting closer.

“My mother was a necromancer.” I nodded, and her eyes grew even bigger. “That’s where my sister and I started, with necromancy.” Lily opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, so I continued. “Witches are not born with one particular type of magic. They can choose where to focus their power when they come of age. Some of us are more adept at healing magic, others in battle magic, necromancy, or alchemy. But we can do it all, if we wish to, as long as we study and practice.”

Lily shook her head in bewilderment. “So you can raise the dead, too?”

I nodded.

“Raising the dead is one of the most basic applications of necromancy. A powerful necromancer can communicate with the dead and extract information. They can delay death or accelerate it. They can expel an evil spirit from a person’s body, or contain a person’s soul in an object, or within themselves, before sending it to the afterlife. A necromancer canheal.” I winced, scratching my nose. “Well, technically not exactly heal, since in order to extend a person’s life they need to shorten that of another, but there is nothing evil in that if there is consent given. Necromancers walk a fine line between what people perceive as good and evil, so humans have always been scared of them. But necromancy has nothing to do with the devil. Witches are not infernal creatures.”

She nodded in understanding, adjusting herself as if awaiting more. I suppressed my smile.

“The world is full of magic, but it’s not all the same,” I continued, leaning my head on the beam supporting the awning atop the veranda. “There is Fae magic, the oldest and purest form of energy. It stems from nature, and only Fae folk can ‘borrow’ it. They can make a tree move its roots or branches, and they can make it grow fruit or wither, but they can’t create a living one without a sampling, earth, and water. Similarly, they can’t conjure water out of thin air, but they can redirect a current running deep underground and make it flow to the surface.”

“I see!” she gasped, glancing at my mouth as if to urge me to keep going. “And the other types?”

“There is also witch magic.” Nym hissed and jumped off my legs as I adjusted myself to a more comfortable position. Before I could apologize, he climbed one of the trees and found himself a spot among the branches. “Witch magic doesn’t come from the outside world, it comes from within us. Imagine we are born with…an empty space inside of our bodies where we can store magic. The older we get, the bigger that reservoir becomes. Every witch is born with a different capacity and, by pushing her limits and using her magic, she can increase that capacity. So that is usually why older witches are more powerful—they had had more time to increase their magic aptitude.”

Lily rubbed her lips, her eyes turning unfocused while she worked through the information.

“So, does that make you the most powerful witch in the world? You are two thousand years old, but you still look so young.”

“I am the most powerful witch in the world, in a way.” I nodded, sliding my hand to my neck only to be reminded I didn’t have my medallion anymore. “My life cycle doesn’t restart from when I was a baby, so my magic reservoir keeps growing every day that I’m alive. When I die, it stops growing and when I awaken again, the reservoir is empty, but technically, if I fill it with magic, it will make me more powerful than any living witch.”

“Since you awoke just recently, you’re not…?”

“No.” I sighed, turning away from her. “It will take me time to conserve enough magic. Right now, I’m as strong as any other witch. Maybe not even strong enough to match most of them, but I’m recuperating. That’s why I needed to hide here.” I let my hand drop from my neck, fingering the edge of my shirt. “There is a third type of magic, which can be wielded pretty much by anyone. Even humans.”

Lily’s eyes lit up.

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