Angels on the Pyre (Part 1)

Warning: Depictions of Violence and Blood

Kiko

 “Please, don’t do it…” I hid a yawn behind my hand. “I don’t think this is the best plan for you, my Lady.” Camilla sighed and took a drag from her pipe.

“Seriously, you’re doing this again?”

“I know this is serious, but there’s no need to get drastic” I said, “There has to be another way to increase your powers.” I glanced over at Camilla’s boyfriend Elijah, dragging a white, wrapped bundle from the trunk of his car. He tripped over a rock, causing his hand to slip, and the bundle to flop onto the grass.

“Be careful with her!” Camilla barked, “We need her uninjured for the ritual!” Elijah’s eyes brimmed with Camilla’s blue magic and he immediately bowed.

“Sorry my Lady. I’ll do better.” Elijah said. Camilla gently stroked his cheek. When she spoke again, I could hear the slight distortion normally used in hypnosis magic.

“It’s alright love, just don’t do it again. Now, go on and set up the ritual circle for us.” Eijah beamed at his mistress and carried the bundle towards a forest clearing. As soon as he walked away, Camilla’s smile slipped away. “Anyway Kiko, we’ve tried different ways. Spells and potions didn’t work, and consultations with other witches were useless.” She held out a hand, a blue fireball crackling in her palm, “I’m already one of the most powerful witches in the entire coven. I could burn this entire god-forsaken forest just by thinking about it!” The fireball grew bigger, the blue flames making the leaves blacken and curl. I gently held onto Camilla’s free hand.

“And that’s why we don’t need to do this,” I said hurriedly, “Everyone knows that you and your family deserve this. Your power level is perfect for Coven leader, you’re almost as powerful as the first witch in history! Do you know how amazing that is?” The blue flames shrunk and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Camilla glanced over to Elijah, who was busy pouring sand and lighting candles in the clearing. She yanked her hand from my grip.

“Almost isn’t good enough. I'm not going to let my chance at being Head Witch slip through my fingers. Now get the stuff from the trunk, we have more to do.” Camilla stalked off towards her boy toy, blue smoke still swirling from her pipe. I sighed and grabbed a small red bottle, string bag, and a large curved blade. Elijah and Camilla tore away the white cloth from the girl’s body, leaving her hair to fall over her face. Though the moonlight and candles weren't very bright, the light brownish-blonde hair looked familiar. 

“My Lady, who is this?” I asked.

“You don’t know who this is?” Camilla said with a smile, “That's sad. You’re the one who recommended her to me.” She cleared the hair away to reveal her face. It was Mindy, one of my coworkers from work. And possibly one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I dropped everything and stumbled back. “What the hell? These are antique ritual pieces, be careful!” None of her words registered in my head. All I could hear was a constant ringing as I stared at MIndy’s peaceful face.

“No no no, we can’t use her for the ritual. She’s the wrong person.” I said hurriedly.

“Um, you told me that she’s basically a saint, has magical blood because she has witch ancestors and she’s a virgin. This girl’s perfect, why wouldn’t we use her?”

“I just threw her name out as a suggestion, but that doesn't mean she’s good for this!” I crouched down to Camilla’s level. “She told me all about her life. Mindy’s close with her family and she has lots of friends. I’ll bet she told people that we’ve been hanging out. If she suddenly goes missing, it’ll be connected to me.”

“Well, swallow a truth concealment potion, simple as that.” 

“No, it’s not as simple as that!” Camilla’s eyebrows raised as my voice got higher, “She’s the most well known person in the office! People will notice! And if people dig deep enough, they’ll find us!”

“Will you calm down?” Camilla shouted. Elijah looked worriedly up at her. Camilla sighed and stroked his hair, glaring at me, “Look, we have done this dozens of times. You recommended person after person to me, and you’ve killed them just fine. Why are you worried about her?” Camilla jerked her head towards the still sleeping Mindy. As I stared down at Mindy, memories reeled through my head like an old film strip. My thoughts filled with her smiles, waves, all the times she helped me with projects, and settled our last meetup. Mindy had surprised me with a birthday lunch and even gave me a sunflower necklace.

“Oh Mindy, you shouldn't have!” 

“No no, it’s your birthday! You deserve it!” I remember feeling distinctly warmer as she smiled at me, “You’ve been such a good friend to me lately. This is just my way of saying thank you for being so kind.” That necklace was currently around my neck, no longer a comforting trinket. As I looked away from Mindy, I heard Camilla begin to laugh. It was quiet at first, barley louder than the summer breeze. But it grew louder and louder until she cackled so loudly, birds flew into the night.

“You sad sad, stupid idiot, “Camilla hissed, “You seriously don’t want to help your future Head Witch because this girl gets your coffee in the morning? Is that it?” I scooted away from Camilla, holding the side of my head.

“Stop looking through my memories, those are none of your business!” I said, “She’s not like the others, she doesn't deserve to die like this.”

“So the others deserved to be sacrificed because they didn't give you jewelry and smile at you.” Camilla scoffed.

“My Lady, you’re twisting my words. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“But that’s exactly what you’re showing me.” Camilla flipped her hair and looked at Elijah, “Tell me darling. When we sacrificed Jessica after she threatened my older brother, did Kiko whine?”

“No Mistress,” Elijah said dutifully.

“When Oliva’s mother began insulting my mother and trying to usurp her place as Head Witch, did Kiko say no to helping my mom and I lure her here?”

“No Mistress.”

“And when Alicia had been bullying my little sister until she tried to harm herself, was Kiko concerned?”

“No Mistress. She helped with all of them, just like you asked.” Elijah said.

“Exactly, she helped me just like I asked! Good job Eli. ,” Camilla said with a small snarl.

“But they were harming you, it was natural that I protect you!” I pleaded, “Mindy did nothing, she doesn't deserve this!”

“What you say or think doesn't matter!” Camilla’s clawed hand fisted into my hair and she yanked me up from the dirt. I yelled, gripping onto Camilla’s wrist as she shook me “In the Coven, I’m in the second highest position. That means you listen to me! It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree, you do as you're told!”

“Get off me!” I screamed. I gripped Camilla harder, my magic activating immediately. In an instant, lightning shot from my fingertips and shot up her delicate arm. Camilla screamed and threw me away from her, sending me hurtling into the dirt.

“You bitch!” Camilla’s arm was streaked with thin, angry red burns trailing up her trembling arm.

“It’s alright my Lady, I’m here! Here, open your mouth,” Elijah unscrewed a bottle of healing potion, dripping four drops of green liquid into her mouth. Elijah gently rubbed Camilla’s arm, “It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay.” As the burned, red flesh slowly faded to a light pink, Camilla pointed a shaking finger at me, her voice becoming distorted once again.

“You’re not ruining my chances at being Head Witch, you hear me?” A cold blue glow surrounded my body, spearing through my skin and strangling every nerve in my body. Using her magic, Camilla pulled me over to the circle and stuffed a small red bag of salts in my hands 

“Let go of me…” I gasped.

“Wake her up.” Camilla ordered.

“Please…”

“Wake her up!” My finger jerkily opened the bag and held the salt under her nose. Mindy jerked awake as soon as she smelled the salts, coughing and hacking into the dirt. She looked up at me, her eyes widening.

“Kiko? What… What are you doing? Where are we?” She shrank away from Camilla and Elijah, “Who are these people, what’s going on?” I opened my mouth to respond, but the magic quickly snapped it shut. Camilla stroked Mindy’s hair.

“We’re having someone special visit us today. And Kiko wanted you to be her plus-one for this event. Eli, time to start.” He grinned and picked up the knife and a small bowl from the ground. 

“Alright Eli, Kiko, you know what to do. Make it hurt as much as possible, you know Vulcar likes his victims in pain. And Kiko, don’t spill any of her blood. We’ll need it for the rest of the ritual.” Mindy’s eyes widened even more and she scooted away from the blade.

“No, no please don’t-” Mindy said, tears filling her eyes. Eli sat on the back of her legs and gleefully began to carve deep into Mindy’s back. Mindy howled, straining and shaking as her blood began to spill. I dutifully collected the blood streaming down her back, not bothering to wipe the tears from my face. But with Mindy’s frantic movements, Elijah’s knife strokes became sloppier.

“I can’t carve the symbol that well, my Lady. She’s moving too much.” Elijah said. Camilla sighed and waved her hand. Vines shot up from the dirt and wrapped tightly around Mindy’s body. Mindy whimpered as she was shoved deeper into the dirt.

“That’s better,” Camilla said, tapping on her phone, “And Kiko, take that white fabric and shut her up. If she keeps screaming like that, we have a long night ahead of us.” We did have a long night. Throughout the carving of Vulcar’s demonic symbol, the burning of Mindy’s hands with the blessed red candles, and offering Vulcar peachers covered in Mindy’s blood, she never stopped crying. When it was time for the final step, I could barely look at her. 

“Why?” Mindy asked, her voice ragged and hoarse, “Why are you doing this to me?” She looked over at me, “Did I do something wrong? Please Kiko, please tell me!” I wanted to answer, but Camilla’s magic still held onto my tongue.

“It’s almost time.” Camilla said in a singsong voice. She summoned a small stained book from a purple portal and flipped to the back, “Eli, Kiko, repeat after me.” 

“Please Kiko, don’t let me die without knowing!” Mindy screamed, “If I did something wrong, I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for whatever I did, just please!”

“She’s doing this because I ordered her to,” Camilla said sharply, “She does what I say, whenever I say, and she doesn't care about you.” Camilla took a deep breath and we began chanting from the book. As the familiar Latin words filled the air, the sand circle and candles began to glow, and the breeze blew faster. The flames grew taller and brighter, the blood covered peaches began to sizzle lightly, and the demonic carving on Mindy’s back shone a deep blood red. Mindy’s blue eyes met mine for what I knew would be the last time. 

“Please Kiko, all I wanted was to be friends…” she cried, “I just want to be friends with you…please…” Glowing red hands with glimmering black talons emerged from the edges of the circle and ripped the vines off of Mindy’s body. All I could do was watch as the taloned hands drag Mindy into the glowing depths of the ritual circle, her deep gold hair the last thing to be swallowed by their grasp. I barely felt Camilla’s magic releasing me as I fell to my knees in the dirt. 

“Alright, that didn’t take too long,” Camilla said, with a satisfied sigh, “Time to go everyone.” I heard Camilla brush her dress off and walk away to the car.

“Mistress, what about her?” Elijah asked.

“She can find her own way home,” Camilla said dismissively, “And she needs to clean up the evidence away.” Elijah lingered behind me for a few moments before following his mistress to the car. I didn’t move. I couldn’t move. After what had happened, I didn’t deserve to move. All I could do was stare at the smoking remains of the circle as the car started up and drove away, tires crunching over the narrow dirt road.

Epilogue: Mindy

My body seemed to be floating in the air. The air surrounding me was warm and smoky. Through my sleepy haze, there was the faint smell of fire, cinnamon peaches… and a faint hint of blood. Blood… Just a while ago, my blood was spilling from a giant knife slices deep in my back, was being poured over a bowl of spiced fruit, and was dripping from a giant curved knife… My eyes sprang open and I immediately sat up. I regretted that action as pain spread across my back. 

“Woah woah, take it easy!” A tall shadowy man smiled down at me, fangs glinting in the candlelight. I shoved him away and fell back against the pillows. The man sighed and shook his head, “God, I told you to be careful. I just bandaged up your back and your hands…”

“Who are you, what’s going on?” I hurriedly looked around the ornate bedroom and grabbed the heavy candlestick on the nightstand. My burned palms stung as I brandished it at him, “Answer me!” The man sighed and plucked it out of my hands.

“All you need to know is that I’m not here to hurt you. What you need to focus on is getting your strength back .” The man pulled a small cart from the giant armchair, “It took a lot of work getting this, but-”

“No no no!” I scooted away from the man, “I need to know what’s happening! One minute I was at home after work, the next I was tied in a forest getting tortured, and now I’m here, somehow still alive, with a man I don’t know! The least you can do is tell me who you are and what is happening!” The man sighed again, out of concern rather than annoyance.

“I suppose you deserve to know the truth. But you are going to eat while I talk.” I nodded and he placed the tray across my legs. “First off, I need to transform. This may be a bit shocking.” He straightened up and the shadows began to slide away from his body. After a few moments, I was greeted with a man with beady black eyes, a long beak-like nose and a thin-lipped smile. He was dressed in a plum colored suit with a black feather collar, and had massive talons at the end of his blackened fingers. But what was the most prominent, were the twisting purple horns growing from his head. “There, that’s better.”

“Oh my goodness,” I gasped.

“Next, an introduction.” He lifted my hand and pressed a gentle kiss to it. I shivered as the place where his lips met my skin burned. He gave me another smile, full of shiny white fangs, “My real name is far too hard for you to pronounce, but for now, you may call me Vulcar.”

To Be Continued…