“I’m leaving, Alex,” I tell him firmly. “I’m going right now. I can’t stick around here. You understand that, right? I don’t know what you lot believe but it isn’t for me. Now, you can either come with me, or stay. But I’m not sticking around so Cloud can kill me.”
“I want to be ‘the one’,” he gushes pathetically. “I want to save the world. Can’t you understand that?”
I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO be leaving alone in Alex’s car with tears down my face. Tonight isn’t supposed to be going this way at all.
Alex chose them, he wants them, he’s too brainwashed. I don’t think I can save him, ever. I want him to be the one for me, he wants to be ‘the one’ for them, saving the world.
He’s willing to do that for the love of his cult.
I thought I loved him, but I walked away.
“Shit.”
I screech the car to a halt and scream into the steering wheel. What can I do here? What choice do I have?
I need to go back.
I don’t want to go back, but I need to.
I don’t feel like I have any choice.
I always told myself I would do anything for love, but now the chance is here, I’m running away.
I can’t go back alone though, that’s for sure. Not if I want to save Alex and break him free. I need someone on my side, protection, a hero...
ONE YEAR LATER...
“Here she is, the one.” Alex throws his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in for a kiss. “You look beautiful today. I mean, you always look beautiful, but especially today. You’re like a dream.”
His words wash over me like a gorgeous river. I swim in them loving that I finally have everything I’ve ever wanted. I have my man, I’ve had the big white wedding, and now I have the baby in my belly. It’s a dream come true.
“Everyone is so excited about today, my love, about you proving yourself all over again. Last year, the way you came out of the blue with the hitchhiker and saved the day, saved the world from the demons.”
“Hmm.”
I prefer not to remember it. To me, it isn’t my finest moment. But this year will be. This year, I’ve bided my time, I’ve made some strong bonds, I’ve got my plan in order...this year I will be proud.
“Who knows who will be ‘the one’ this year,” Alex continues. “I can’t believe how badly I wanted it to be me last year. I nearly sacrificed the love of my life.”
I don’t want to talk about that, I don’t need to remember it, it puts a dent in my otherwise happy memories.
“Let’s go, shall we? See what’s going to happen.”
I already know. This year, God will be getting who he needs. That arrogant, punk-ass, son-of-a-bitch, Cloud. Alex might not like it, it could cause another blip in me and him, but everyone else will be free.
Enough people agree with me, they were just too afraid to speak out before I came along, but not anymore. Today is the first day of the revolution.
Finally, after a year of sacrifice, my life will be my own at last.
I didn’t used to agree with murder, but now I think in some cases, it’s needed. I do feel bad about the hitchhiker, he didn’t need to die for some imaginary demons, but I won’t about this. Cloud deserves to die. Whether there really is some God to be appeased or not, is irrelevant, but the world will be a better place without him in it.
Alex will be fine. He’ll be okay with this in the long run, I’m sure of it.
After all, he’s the one. I’m his one. We are destined to be together. I’m his wife, about to be the mother of his child. With a love like this, where we will do anything for one another, then we can get through anything.
Now, I just need to make sure that Cloud dies. I need to ensure the plan I’ve put into action doesn’t fail He needs to be the one with the knife in his chest.
Then the new world can begin!
Samie Sands
Samie Sands is the author of the AM13 Outbreak series—Lockdown, Forgotten, Extinct, and Not Dead Yet. She’s also had a number of short stories published in very successful short story anthologies. To find out more about her and her work, check out her website at http://samiesands.com.
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The Witches Bite
Linda Jenkinson
the witch’s bite
it leaves a wound that won’t heal and profound questions
The witch’s bite was worrisome at the very least. What kind of treatment does it need, for a start? But what really was frightening Zoey was the nagging thought that it might do something to her; something she didn’t know; something gross or scary or horrible. And, of course, there was always the chance it would turn her into an animal or something, or even a witch. She really had to address it now and drop everything else.
Zoey walked into the library, her long legs and excellent posture creating a graceful and kind of undulating gate, as her flip-flops gently slapped the underside of her feet. This particular library was new to her and she didn’t have a clue where to look for information on witch’s bites. She walked up to the librarian who was busy writing something down on a messy notepad.
“Witches,” Zoey startled her with her clear precise voice. “Can you tell me where I should go for books on witches?” The librarian had a funny smell, like musk or dank basements and she looked at Zoey in obvious distaste. She pointed over to the back of the room and told Zoey, she’d have to the stairs and then down to the basement and look for a sign that said ‘Occult History and Practices’.
Zoey thanked her and went in that direction, hoping that what she needed would be in that collection of books. She looked down at her bite and she could see it was still red around the bandage and throbbed despite the ointment she had dressed it with. As she walked to the stairs her thoughts went back to just two nights ago when she was bitten.
It’s not easy killing a witch. You have to know how to do it. The thirty-something witch put up quite a fight. She could see that brassy blonde hair flipping around and around as she tumbled down the two flights of stairs. It isn’t like they have superhuman powers or anything. They only have powers in their spells and craft, but physically, they are not very strong. But that’s the trick, isn’t it? Making sure they don’t have time to throw out one of their debilitating spells while you’re trying to kill them. Her father had taught her that, at least. Although, she was sure he would never have dreamed that she would be wrestling with a wiry witch one day.
Yes, her father had mentioned that you must distract them with very loud kind and loving words while you’re fighting them so they can’t recall the spell words- the demon words that call on powers to help them. Her dad knew about that from his own father who once killed a witch. Her dad had told her the witch was trying to disable or kill Zoey’s grandmother, his mother.
“Maybe it skips a generation like everything else,” she said to herself, as she slowly descended the stairs to the basement. She didn’t even want to kill that witch but the bitch-witch said she would render Zoey’s youngest brother mute for the rest of his life. And the witch had already made Max, her other brother, only able to tell the truth all the time. This got him in big trouble with his girlfriend, friends, teachers and even their mother.