Last Witch Standing

chapter 18



The Present

Earth

Queen Annalisse led Rachel to the back of the store. Several Upper Mountain Witches were gathered by the window; all dressed crudely in burlap dresses. One carried a sack, which she opened upon seeing Rachel, and pulled a woven hemp ladder from.

I will shield you from the Power while my sisters lead you down the ladder. We will meet up later. Follow the instructions of my sisters. Queen Annalisse spoke directly into Rachel’s mind.

Rachel nodded.

Trudy, the Upper Mountain Witch who had found Rachel on Pangea, cut a hole through the large, plate glass window. When the opening was large enough for Rachel, two Upper Mountain Witches secured the line to the window ledge with stakes from the burlap bag.

Trudy went first to test the line. When she reached the bottom, Lissette and Cossette –those witches had spoken their own names directly into Rachel’s mind so she would know them – motioned for Rachel to follow.

She tested the line. It was thin and she did not see how the green jumping jack shaped stakes could hold – they were smaller than her thumb – but she did as instructed. These witches had their ways and they would certainly take her size into account.

The outdoor air greeted her as she climbed out the window. She forced herself not to look down – though she thought it crazy to fear heights after all the flying she had done with Katie.

At the bottom, she released the line and the two witches pulled the line bit back up. How were they going to get down?

A moment later, Lissette climbed down the side of the building, like a supernatural mountain climber, Dracula scaling the walls of his castle. When she was halfway down, Cossette stood on the rail. She held the cut windowpane in her hands. Rachel watched as she fit it into the hole and taped the edges, circling around. It stuck and no seam was visible from below. Once done, Cossette likewise scaled the wall.

These witches respect private property.

With Rachel in tow, they ran through the parking lot, avoiding areas where they could be seen from inside the bookstore. Katie would probably still be upfront – whenever she got hold of a new copy of Scientific American, she usually sat mesmerized, reading the issue cover to cover, noticing nothing in her surroundings. Nevertheless, she was a very powerful sorceress and Rachel, not taking any chances, ran as fast as she could – barely keeping up with the little witches.

They reached the curb outside the shopping center and a van pulled up beside them. Rachel recognized the driver – she was the police officer Rachel encountered the year before in the Melville coffee shop. In the seat beside her, the man who Rachel had encountered, with his son, at Walmart on the day she fled her home, moved to the back and opened the sliding door for them.

They are with Queen Annalisse; I must trust them. It is strange to see them here, but what about this whole affair hasn’t been strange?

Nobody said anything. Lissette and Cossette pushed Rachel in. They followed behind and Dan shut the door. What about Trudy?

Rachel didn’t have to wonder long, for as the van started from the curb, she heard taps on the roof. Trudy was on top, probably keeping lookout.

Rachel breathed slowly, making sure not to channel – even subconsciously. Their escape depended upon Katie not picking up a signal of her whereabouts. What about Annalisse? Had she been going to fight Katie at the bookstore?

The police officer turned her head towards Rachel. “Well, hello young lady. I have been wanting to find you for over a year, now.”

“Hello.” Rachel paused for a moment, then said, “You obviously must know about Mountain Witches and the Power?”

“Yes. Queen Annalisse summoned me to her world the day Katie abducted you.”

Rachel turned to Dan Edwards.

“This is all new to me. I still don’t know how much of it I believe,” Dan said.

“I’m sorry I got you involved in this,” Rachel said.

“It is not you who involved me. It is Katie. She was my sister.”