Phantom Witches (Nora's part)

15

I gaze up at the shell of a house, a house that was once filled to the brim with acceptance and love but is now filled with nothing but an echo of hope, with a growing dread. I never should have come here. I may never be able to leave.

I sigh and scold myself. Of course, I had to come here. Of course. It's not quite empty, no matter how much I need it to be. I turn to Lisa and Iz.

"Stay out here with Ander. I'll go alone."

Thankfully, they knew better than to protest.

I walk up the front steps. The front steps that once meant relief, but now mean my doom. I open the door to the dark house that was once a home. I switch on the light switch, surprised to see that it still works, as no one has been here to pay the bills in a long time. It feels weird, seeing my home empty of everything, devoid of life. The air is still. I can hear myself breathe, in and out, my heart beating, creeping its way up into my throat, making me feel choked. I take a deep breath, trying to steel myself, and step farther into the house. Each step seems as loud as a crash of thunder, echoing around me. I make my way through the house, down the stairs, and into my room. It's also empty, but what I'm looking for isn't in clear sight. I step on the loose floorboard that my mom never found. It flips up, revealing the hidden contents. There's a pocketknife, a wad of cash, a handgun that had 'gone missing' a while ago, and, the most dangerous of all, my journal. It doesn't contain much, but it contains many secrets, secrets that could get so many people killed. Secrets that would reveal the existence of the Triple W. Secrets that should never have been written down. Secrets that should never have even been thought.

I gather all the contents, slipping the knife in my pocket, the gun in the other, after taking out the round and putting it with the knife, and I hold the cash and the journal. I take one last look around, and I sprint out of the house as fast as I can. I burst out into the light and blink at the sudden brightness. The door closes behind me, hopefully never to open to me again.

"What did you have to get?"

I look at Iz. It really should have been obvious, with what I'm holding.

"Just some things under that floorboard."

"What things?"

"The things I'm holding."

"Oh, right."

They're waiting for me on the driveway, sitting in the sun in a way that makes them look like they're glowing. They stand and follow me back to the car. We get in and sit there for a while.

"Where should we go? Should we try to call the Triple W?"

I look at Lisa, who was the one who asked.

"No, we don't have a way to contact them right now. All the places we know, like the library, have cameras that the Board could easily hijack. No, we have to figure it out on our own."

"Well, it's not like we have a hidden safe haven for witches. Right?"

A thought pops into my head. A brilliant, amazing, risky idea.

"Actually, we do. The Hall of Phantoms. That's what it was built for."

"Yes, but is it safe? I mean, the last time we went there..."

"That happened because it was newly moved there. It's safe now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am."

Even though I wasn't.

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