“Ivan’s parents were killed when he was just seventeen, his sister a mere nineteen. Brutally murdered at the hands of witches who feared his parents’ power.” He looks at me. I give a nod to show him I’m following.
“These witches,” he continues, “were a part of a very corrupt organization called the Family. Their sole purpose in life was to rid the world of sorcerers so that they could be the only magical people on the planet. They were a very greedy and very evil bunch.”
I want to interrupt and tell him that I know all about sorcerers, and that they’re not so innocent themselves, but I’m smart enough to stay silent.
“Ivan and Rowan were justly angry at the loss of their parents, but they were only children, really, just two sorcerers against a massive, powerful organization. The people who were supposed to stand behind them—other sorcerers—agreed that the Family needed to be stopped. They told Ivan and Rowan not to try to exact revenge themselves. You see, due to a powerful spell, sorcerers could not kill a witch without being drained of their powers, thus leaving them defenseless. But these sorcerers—the Priory, they called themselves—they promised that they would do everything in their power to get the revenge that Ivan and Rowan so sorely desired. And so, trusting them, Ivan tried to live a normal life. He finished school. He met a girl. He even had a child. His sister, on the other hand—she never could forget. She got into quite a bit of trouble, and disappeared for a few years with some underground group of sorcerers. But Ivan was good. He listened to the rules the Priory had set out for him. He tried to be happy, but all the while he burned for the blood of his parents’ killers to be on his hands. And then one day his sister returned: she’d heard of more murders. A group of a dozen sorcerers had been killed. No reason, just that the Family decided to do it. Can you imagine?”
The Chief dips his head toward his chest, pausing for effect. This guy deserves an Oscar.
“By this time, the Family had doubled in size and grown more powerful than ever. Ivan was angry—he’d trusted his people to protect them against further deaths, but they’d let him down. He decided in that moment to join his sister in her bid for revenge. But the Family were smart, constantly moving their headquarters, and Ivan and Rowan didn’t know where to find the leaders. They decided that, instead of trying to scout them out, they would bring their enemies to them. Knowing that keeping the world of paranormals a secret was the most important value of the Family, Ivan killed a human. He cut off her head and raised it on a staff in the middle of a popular town monument.”
He smiles as if the story were his own cherished memory, and a chill shudders through me. I suddenly realize how the Chief got his nickname—he is that murderous boy in the story. He is Ivan. I had an idea that he was sick and demented, but had no idea of the depths of it.
“But that didn’t attract the Family,” he continues. “Ivan and Rowan realized they’d have to match their brutality to the Family’s to catch their attention. And so they killed dozens more this way. But as determined as the siblings were to best their enemies, the Family caught up to Ivan during an operation gone bad. He was captured. Thankfully, Rowan escaped.”
His eyes turn dark at the memory, and he laughs without humor. “Oh, they pretended to give him a trial so that the other witches and warlocks would think they’d been fair, but it was no surprise to anyone when they found him guilty. The Family had access to a portal to another dimension, a dimension completely cut off from the rest of the world, filled with the dregs of the paranormal world. And this is where they sent him. His sister would be left to suffer alone with the debilitating grief of the loss of their parents. He would never see his wife again. Never see his baby grow. And the sorcerers who were supposed to be on his side, to protect him? They did nothing to stop it.”
I can’t keep quiet any longer. “If he cared so much about his wife and baby, then he should have thought about the consequences before murdering dozens of innocent people.”
“Do not interrupt!” he yells.
I’m stunned into silence. The Chief closes his eyes for a long moment, and when he opens them again, he’s composed himself.
“This place, it looked like his home, but it wasn’t. He tried everything to escape, but not even the wealth of magic available at his fingertips could take him home. Though time passed, his anger burned on inside him. He awoke every day with the singular goal of escape—of revenge against the Family. Over time his skills grew and he became a leader inside this horrid place. And then one day, many years after he’d been incarcerated, Ivan had a special visitor. His sister, Rowan, had bribed a witch for access to the Family’s portal. Ivan thought his sister had forgotten him, but she assured him this wasn’t so. She’d been planning a way to help him escape since the day he was sent away. Together they plotted. It was difficult for them to wait to enact their plans, but both of them knew everything had to be perfect this time, couldn’t be rushed—they weren’t going to risk getting caught trying to sneak out of the portal when Rowan left after one of her visits. And all of their patience was worth it. One day Rowan came to Ivan with great news: She’d found a way.” The Chief’s eyes get bright, the closest thing to a genuine smile possible on such an evil man lighting his face.
“The first part of the plan involved a Bible. You see, Rowan learned of a Bible that could be used to kill a witch without draining a sorcerer of his powers.”
My stomach flips. The Witch Hunter’s Bible. The thing that got my mother killed. Got me into this whole, horrible mess.
“She would find the Bible, which they would then use when the second part of the plan went into effect.”