Chapter 49: Witch Hunting

Tess had a hard time focusing on anything, her mind drifting to topics like her future and freelancing in general whenever she tried. It was…weird, going from talking about potentially world-shatteringly important events in the morning to listening to a teacher talk about math in the evening. It was almost like a dream, where one sequence of events led into another in a way that made little sense.

“Alright everybody, pack up.” Her teacher said, snapping Tess back to attention. “It’s time to do yearbook signing. Get your stuff and then go out to the back of the school, we’ll be doing it outside until school would normally be over.”

Tess had entirely forgotten that was supposed to be today. She began to hurriedly put away her things, then turned to Ellie. “I totally forgot about this, how about you?”

“Same.” Ellie laughed. “Suppose we just…had other things on our minds, eh?”

The two chatted a bit more as they packed up, before heading to their lockers to grab the rest of their stuff and then finally out back, where a large line was beginning to form around a few folding tables that had been set up. Near each line a teacher held a sign that contained a range of letters, indicating which line should be used by people with a last name starting with one of the contained letters.

Tess and Ellie obediently lined up in the line for L, and in a few minutes, they were receiving a yearbook from the person manning that station. And, following that, they mingled with the other students, giving signatures and obtaining some in return.

And that was all well and good until one of the walls of the school was lit up by a powerful projector, and the music that had been playing over the football stadium’s speakers suddenly stopped.

“Ladies and gentlemen, do I have an announcement for you!” A voice said jovially, crackling to life over the speakers that had just moments before been playing the music. Tess looked up to the broadcaster’s room and saw, much to her displeasure, Aaron sitting in the windowsill with a microphone in hand, looking down at Tess with an infuriatingly smug smile.

When he saw that Tess was looking at him, he gave her a little wave, smile growing deeper before he turned to face the equipment he had set up in the room. “You see,” he began, pressing a button and causing a countdown to appear on the side of the building, “I had a little…beef with one of the students here. I’m sure many of you know her, a girl by the name of Tess Los, graduating here in a couple of weeks.

“I confronted her about leading me on, using my goodwill for her own gain before discarding me, and do you know what she did? Not only did she laugh in my face, she had the gall to threaten me. Me, of all people! She said that I would keep quiet about all of this if I knew what was good for me. I, of course, am not one to take such threats lying down.”

The countdown edged its way closer to zero, but Tess’s attention was torn away by a window that appeared in front of her.

Death: Well, I…suppose this…kinda works out. Look, he’s probably gonna try to out you as a “witch”. I just did a quick check, he had a camera somewhere on his clothes when he confronted you that second time and he’s got video. We have two options here, one, you deny everything and continue as normal these next two weeks. Well, not as normal, you’re probably gonna be shunned by a bunch of people but not much we can do about that.

Two, you admit it. We mentioned we wanted to make this town a paranormal hotspot, right? Make a big show of something here, you’ll be really shunned these next two weeks and people will probably shun you after too, but…well, they’re not that big a deal. Hopefully your close friends would be cool with it. Um…your call, though, we can always just start our plan in a couple of weeks like we had intended.

Tess: No. I’m game to do this now, I’m done playing by his rules.

Fortune: Yeah, stick it to the man!

Death: We’re “the man”, Fortune. As far as the world knows, we’re as high on the totem pole as it gets

Fortune: You know what I mean

Life: You two, enough, she needs to focus. Fortune, would you be able to feed her some Worship? Death and I did some testing, she should be able to use it to fuel her abilities in place of Mana and Stamina, so they can function normally.

Fortune: Can do! Knock ‘em dead, Tess!

Tess looked over to Ellie, giving her a nod and beginning to shoulder her way through the crowd. Up on the side of the building, Aaron and Tess’s latest confrontation was playing out, people watching in shock as, in it, Tess sliced through the hardwood desk like it wasn’t there.

The stairs leading up to the broadcasting room were barred by two huge men who were giving Tess hostile stares. “No one gets through until he’s done with his speech. Especially you.” One said.

“So, there you all have it!” Aaron said gleefully, either unaware or uncaring of Tess below. “She’s a monster and needs to be punished. So, I’m going to make a call for action now. None of you should associate with her or the Los family, as you’ll only be inviting evil into your lives. Make sure your families know too, it’s just not safe.”

“I’m going to give you the chance to move aside now.” Tess said, calmly looking up at the men that were towering over her. “You saw the video. You don’t want to fight me.”

The man who had spoken before snorted and hefted a baton. “Special effects.” He said. “You don’t scare me.”

“Wrong answer.” Tess said, smiling. She tensed as a charged feeling entered her body, pure energy crackling within. She threw her head back, channeling the Worship into Command of the Emperor and letting out a roar. It was an enormous, inhuman sound that easily drowned out the crowd’s chatter and the noise of Aaron over the speakers, and when she finished not a sound was to be heard.

You have applied Terror to 859 people! Artisanal Afflictions has upgraded Terror to Frozen With Fear!

She pushed her way past the now unresisting bodyguards and ascended the stairs until she reached the door to the broadcasting room. She tried to open it, but it was locked, so she unsheathed her claws and brought them down on the door, cutting through the old metal with only a moderate effort. She reached in through the hole she had made and unlocked the door, opening it to reveal a panicking Aaron.

She walked over and wrested the microphone from his hands, flashing him a smile as she tapped it. “I believe it’s only fair that I get to say my side of the story.” She said, watching as Command of the Emperor’s effect expired and people began to move again. For his part, Aaron bolted out of the room and headed down the stairs, leaving Tess alone to talk.

“My apologies for scaring you all like that.” She said. “I had to get past the bodyguards and that was the easiest non-violent way I had.” It wasn’t, she could have teleported past them with Flashstep, but the people she was talking to didn’t need to know that. Besides, if she had done that, there was a chance they would have tried to catch up to her on the stairs, and she really didn’t want to hurt them.

“Look, I’m not…well, I guess you could call me a witch, but it’s a rather poor term to describe what I am. I’m not much good at magic, though I can do a little. But, that aside, Aaron was lying to you. I threatened him, yes, but he threatened me first. I never laughed at him either, and certainly never led him on or even gave him the remotest sign that I had any interest in him.

“And, as you all just saw, I could have done much worse to him if I had chosen to. I just set a minor poltergeist on him, so he’d get the message, and he didn’t. I really don’t want to hurt anyone, and I’m definitely not evil. In fact, I’m a rather firm follower of Life and Death, make a point of praying to them daily, and letting them know what I do.”

That was…kind of true, if you could call their chatting prayer. And if you left out the fact that she was, technically, their equal, so being a “follower” was something of a stretch. “I make a point of closely adhering to the wishes of the gods, and I bear no ill will against anyone here. I’ll understand if you can’t trust me after this, and I won’t blame you if you choose to stop associating with me. I just want to say that not everything different or unknown is scary, and that perhaps you should take a moment and decide for yourself who’s really in the right here.”

She paused, eyeing the fearful crowd. “Anyway, I guess that’s all I wanted to say, I’m going to get out of your hair now. I’d still love to be friends with anyone who still wants to talk to me.” She put the microphone down and left the room, taking a moment to cast a mending spell on the door and fully repair it. Then, she jumped off of the stairway, using Greater Levitation to slow her descent until she landed, unharmed, on the ground below.

Tess: Ellie, let’s go to the car, I don’t think we should stick around.

Ellie: Way ahead of you, I’m already on my way.

She took off at a run, dashing through a crowd that parted before her. A short time before she fully cleared the crowd, she caught sight of Jacob behind her, sprinting to try and catch up but steadily losing ground.

She slowed, allowing him to catch up to her just as she stepped onto the parking lot’s pavement.

“What…what was that!?” He huffed. “What’s going on, Tess!?”

Death: Now’s a good time to let him in on it, too. Probably want to do it away from the school, though.

“Meet Ellie and I at our house.” Tess told him. “We’ll explain there, but right now we gotta leave before things get more complicated.”

“Ellie’s in on this too? Look, I…” He trailed off as he stared at her face, then shook his head. “Alright. But you better be ready to tell me everything.”

Tess smirked. “I’m ready, but I don’t think you are.” She said. “See you in a few minutes.” And with that she took off for Ellie’s car, quickly opening the passenger seat’s door and hopping in. “Jacob’s gonna meet us at our place.” She said. “We’re explaining everything to him then. Hit it!”

Ellie grinned, quickly accelerating and leaving the parking lot behind them. “Did you see the look on Aaron’s face as he left? He looked like he was about to die of fright!”

“I didn’t get a good look, no.” Tess said. “Wish I had, though, I’m sure it was great.”

“Not as great as you.” Ellie said. “That was…super hot. Especially the bit in the video, that was…something else. Have I ever told you how lucky I am that you’re my girlfriend?”

Tess smiled. “Once or twice.”

“Not enough, then. I’d give you a kiss, but I don’t want to crash this car. You better believe you’re getting one the moment we get home, though.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Tess replied, smiling slightly.

And so, the two drove home, Jacob following behind them.

Jacob got out of his car, locking the door behind him as he rushed to the front door. He was still in shock over what had just happened. His best friend had…what did he even call what she had done? It was…it was like she had temporarily turned into some sort of beast, an avatar of destruction.

He involuntarily shuddered as he recalled that roar. While it hadn’t frozen him like it had most of the students, that was not a human sound. It was primal, bestial, something that had reached deep down into the most instinctual part of his brain and set it screaming about how there was something so incredibly dangerous nearby that the only way to survive was to run.

And those claws, the way she had shredded the door like it was made of tissues…well, those only served to reinforce that notion. The sensation had, blessedly, faded soon after Tess had begun to speak, but it was something Jacob knew he would never forget. Had…she been able to do that the whole time he’d known her?

Before he could even knock, the door opened, and Tess pulled him inside. “Right, explanation time.” She said, tugging him over to her living room and sitting him down on one of the chairs. “Go ahead and ask your questions, I’ll answer whatever you want.”

Jacob stared at her. “Um…I…where do I start? I guess…well, what were those claws?”

Tess nodded, sitting down next to Ellie on a loveseat across from Jacob. She raised her hands, flexed slightly, and a gleaming claw sprouted from each finger. They were about two feet in length, and looked sharper than any blade Jacob had ever seen, making them seem somehow more dangerous now that he was looking at them up close.

“This…sorta ties into everything that’s been happening.” She said. “I got these from…” She paused, clearly trying to figure out how to word her next phrase. “Alright, no, it really doesn’t make sense unless I explain everything else first.”

Jacob frowned. “Alright then, I’m listening.”

Tess nodded, then paused for a moment, looking slightly away from him, almost as if she was reading something. After a couple of seconds, she turned back to him. “Sorry about that.” She said. “This…is probably not going to be a pleasant experience for you, but it needs to be done.”

The claws vanished and she placed her hands in her lap, looking at him intently. “Do you remember in middle school, when we were getting ready for gym in the locker room and I realized I had left my uniform at home, and I had to borrow an extra from you, and I ended up falling into a bunch of mud? And then I brought that uniform home to wash it and forgot them both the next day?”

Jacob thought back for a moment. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Think hard.” Tess told him. “Does that make sense?”

“I don’t see why n…” He trailed off, wincing as he felt a sudden pain in his head. That…didn’t make sense, now that he was thinking about it. “I seem to recall us picking lockers that were close together, but…”

“But?” Tess prompted.

He closed his eyes, putting a hand to his head. It was really starting to hurt, but something told him he needed to keep going. “But you’re a girl.” He said. “There’s no way we could have lockers next to each other in the locker rooms. But…no, we definitely did. How…”

The pain rose to a crescendo, and then something snapped. As suddenly as it had arrived, the pain had vanished…and as it left, he found he could remember. He opened his eyes, looking at Tess cautiously. “Thomas?” He whispered, scarcely believing what he was seeing.

Tess gave him a nervous smile. “Yup. Um, I’m Tess for good now, though. I…guess I should start at the beginning, it’s a long story.”

Fighterman481

I probably shouldn't say more for fear of spoilers though, so next time we'll be...formally introducing Jacob to everything, so...look forward to it, I guess.

And, as always, thanks for reading!