Witch {Book One} [UNEDITED]

XLV: Parentheses

It was eleven o'clock and Samantha had just returned to New Orleans. To Safe House. But not to Bandit. She went to Jemma's room and saw her Horsemen huddled over Jemma. She was on the floor, her pink hair stuck to her face with sweat. Her makeup was smeared but she hadn't been crying. Her eyes had returned to their normal color and she looked exhausted. Normal, but exhausted. 

"She has an hour," Samantha whispered to get their attention. Not a single person said anything in response. Samantha sat down on the floor next to Jemma. Samantha's upper lip was stained black but at least she wasn't bleeding anymore. 

She had woken up in the Baton Rogue hospital. The same one she was in after the car accident. She silently left the hospital and no one protested. It took some thievery and manipulation, but she returned to New Orleans. 

Ada returned as well. 

"We have to help her." Samantha looked up and saw Annie. The smudge of blood on her dress was huge but it wasn't wet and it wasn't dripping. "Ada's going to kill her." 

Annie disappeared after that. 

She reappeared in Bandit's room. Bandit was fast asleep--still in her clothes, bless her--so Annie had to work carefully. She pulled up Bandit's torn dress and started unwrapping the barbed wire. It was much harder to take it off than it was to put it on. Once the first one was off, Annie gagged. Bandit's tattooed legs were covered in deep puncture wounds and not an inch of her skin wasn't covered in blood. Annie worked quickly on Bandit's second leg. She dropped the wire on the floor and didn't bother picking it up. 

By the time she finished, there was the distant ring of church bells. 

One

Annie screamed in pain. The smudge was growing again. She was reliving her death. 

Two

Bandit jolted awake, unable to catch her breath

Three

Down in Hell, Lucy and Leviathan looked at each other. It was nearly time. 

Four 

Glitch and Thomason got in the car and sped to Safe House. They were going to make it. They had to.

Five 

Jemma scrambled to her feet, instantly more lively than before.

Six

Alice looked up but didn't bother leaving her room. She swallowed back a bottle of pills and shredded her sheets to make a long, thick braid. 

Seven

Gabriel was falling again. This time, he wasn't alone. At least he was back to being a male. 

Eight

The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse exchanged a look. The seal was about to be broken. 

Nine 

Ada whispered something to her largest Hell Hound--the one with the skull for a head. 

Ten

All of Ada's Hell Hounds started running, howling and growling and foaming at the mouth. They were ready to kill

Eleven

Annie fell to the ground, dying and dying and dying again. 

Twelve

The Hell Hounds crashed through the door and went straight for Bandit's room. 

Silence

And then the Hell Hounds came in.