Rise of the Night Witch

Chapter 1.7 - Trust

Recap: Last time, Marissa and Simon saw a mysterious elf and got saved from him by Darcy, Simon's older sister. She showed them the way out of the Otherworld.

Darcy, Simon, I, and the sleeping Isa sat on benches near the cafeteria when the sorcerer arrived. The fortysomething Hunter looked less intimidating in broad daylight than in the Otherworldly gloom. He introduced himself as Andrew Wiggs, assuming that was his real name, and with his spectacles and his receding hairline, he wouldn't have looked out of place in a classroom had you clad him in an argyle sweater. Which made him the right person to recruit someone young and impressionable into his organization.

"You need a hospital?" Wiggs asked as Darcy scrutinized my arm.

It was a question to break the ice, to get me to lower my guard. I tried to be curt. "No."

He laughed. "Lucky you. My colleagues and I were on a patrol in Sleepy Hollow when Mage Leaf called. Count yourself lucky that your town is so close." From his pocket, he revealed an apple. "Here, it's from the Netherlands."

"I'd prefer something local."

"But it's organic!" he said and put the apple back. "You need the energy. This was a dangerous changeling you met. Without his fairy godmother, we'd have pursued him for sure."

A fairy godmother. Besides being a princess, having a fairy godmother like Cinderella was a childhood dream of mine. Now, I wasn't sure about that anymore. "D-did she sent those monsters?"

"Who, Titania? If we only knew. What monsters did you encounter?"

That was a question I was willing to answer. I told him everything about my fight against the barghest and the Cad Goddeu.

He laughed again. "A Seelie and an Unseelie creature? That's a lot for one day. You went through quite the fight, kiddo."

I nodded, not out of agreement but to keep him talking.

"See, it's my duty to report any unregistered practitioners in my jurisdiction to the Council. Your Initiation will be scheduled for Monday. I'll meet you personally at our headquarters and show you the way to the Councillors."

Way to make decisions for me. "Hypothetically," I said. "What happens if I don't come?"

"Well, you can still enjoy our protection as a hedge witch, but the Cunning Folk Academy is only open for you if you're Initiated. I'm a combat magic teacher there, so maybe I'm biased, but it's a great school."

I nodded out of politeness.

One of the other Hunters approached Sorcerer Wiggs and reminded him about the Jersey Devil.

He winked at us. "Duty's calling. See you later!"

Our glamour still hovered above the benches as long as Darcy's Veil Pixie's floated there. I was glad that he was gone. He was just doing his job, sure, but I felt more comfortable around Darcy. She was closer to my age, closer to my level of power, and less threatening. She held my arm and inspected it with the kind of care I hadn't seen in a long time.

"Do I need a hospital?" I asked. "Or can you heal this?"

Darcy let go of my arm. "The wound by a barghest does not heal."

"Yeah, unless you do supernatural healing," Simon said. "You're better at excuses than that."

"Excuses? " she asked "I wonder how good your excuses are once Dad learns of your reckless behavior today. You almost got us killed!"

Simon stood up from his bench. He didn't turn around, he didn't say "goodbye", he just headed to the bus station without looking. Ouch.

I didn't want to take sides here. I never had enough "family experience" to know how to defuse drama like this. My father was always overworked and, even when she was still there, my mother never showed up during my science fairs or spelling bees either.