Sunset Coven 6

Hooza!

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6

“You sure work fast, my friend.” The big ugly half-man half-wolf beast that appeared to be the leader said between his teeth.

Suri tested her hands, they were tightly bounded by the rusty old handcuffs another of the werewolves had slapped on her from behind the minute she and Toren walked inside the Tavern, the handcuffs themselves would be nothing, but Suri had to be careful not to rattle the chains that weighted her hands as well, she didn’t want to alert her captors of what she planned. Two of her fingers were mobile, and that would be more than enough to free herself, those stupid mangy mutts thought she would give them no trouble bound and gagged, but anyone who knew anything about magic could tell you that for a witch the merest of possibilities was enough, one single finger, one mumbled word (even intelligible) and she would be on top again, or in Suri’s case, free to do what serendipity had thrown into her lap so perfectly and fast. Giving her the conditions she needed to make her idea come true.

Toren looked over to where Suri was shackled to a pipe on the wall, he was frowning; some  emotion that seemed suspiciously like longing in his eyes which took Suri by surprise but that disappeared the next instant showed. Or was it regret? “She gave me no trouble, you just have to know how to treat a lady.”

 “If that’s a lady then I’m a pink-loving beauty queen!” The werewolf laughed showering spit around while receiving joking guffs, laughs and howls in agreement by his sycophant pack.

“Whatever tickles your bones, just pay me up, and don’t forget our other agreement.”

“I won’t, you piece of human shit.” The werewolves went back to their angry selves again.

Money was exchanged, the music louder than ever, and while everyone was otherwise occupied, Suri decided she was gonna let Toren live after all.

It wouldn’t be difficult, just making the spell werewolf-only would do the trick.

 Suri knew Jime was gonna be mad with her, but she was dead sure this will work, she could handle it, she was ready. Plus, she believed Jime just wanted another excuse to pay Jack a visit, and she was through with that, no way in hell was she gonna go back to vampire infested nightclubs again, looking for unnecessary trouble when a much more direct solution was at the tip of her fingers, the fact that her knowledge came from her father made her doubt her plan for a little bit, but she knew if there was no actual death she’d be alright, unlike her father; she had found the perfect way to circumvent making a call to the Oracle the traditional way, the only way.

Suri touched the chains and mumbled around her gag “dissolvo et silens”, her bonds came undone around her hands falling on the floor without a sound, Suri didn’t notice that the old handcuffs had cut her wrist just a tiny bit, drawing a drop of her blood on the metal, which made not only the handcuffs and chain melt but a small portion of the pipe as well, liberating a slow hiss of gas.

Suri waited with her hands behind her back for the perfect moment when most of the werewolves would be closer to each other, she didn’t want to waste time dragging them inside the circle, and the amount of power needed for this first spell would have to be small but perfect, just 10 minutes of sleep so that she could gather her strength and supplies for the big spell.

The time came.

“Tutti dorma” she softly said.

Every one inside the Tavern fell on their feet asleep.

She arranged the scattered bodies and quickly found an unopened bottle or vodka. She then grabbed a chair and placed it under a security camera she had spotted before, she stood upon it and tapped the camera 3 times, that was the only way to get the attention of the Oracle on what she was about to do.

She went back to the center of the room, untapped the bottle and drew a circle on the floor with the liquid around the bodies. She found four shot glasses, and filled two with salt and water separately. She then searched the werewolves for a cigarette and a lighter and took those.

Her offerings to the Four Corners of the Wind at hand, she walked to the north and recited the formulae she had seen inside her father’s book of shadows. She called on the element of Earth with the salt. She moved deasil and next called on Air to the east, which she did by lighting the cigarette and filling one empty shot with smoke. Then came the turn of Fire to the south for which she used the lighted cigarette again and left it to burn inside the other empty shot. Finally she moved to the west to call on Water and left the shot filled with it on the floor.

Her plan was simple, she would just make the sacrifice necessary to call on the Oracle and ask for the information she needed.

The moment she was standing on the exact point where she began, the circle’s magic pulsed into being, an invisible wall that seemed to bend the very fabric of existence surrounded the bodies trapping them inside.

The traditional way to call the Oracle’s services was to make a big enough blood sacrifice. She needed to kill something, but Suri, knowing that she wasn’t capable of such a thing, had suddenly seen the light after they had left the diner. The werewolves! Just let them get her, they were after them anyway!

She could use the damned werewolves’ dual  nature to her advantage. She could get rid of one without killing the other, making them one being instead of the two-at-a-time bucket full of enraged sunshine that they were. Thus she wouldn’t really kill a living person, and the dark would not taint her soul (which is what happened every time a witch went bad and started using Dark Magic).

Also, this would get them off her back and teach them all a good lesson! Werewolves had a nasty, violent and very ugly way of considering themselves better than everyone else, the best of two worlds was their slogan. Ha! Give the world a break! Making them human would be sweet sweet karma delivered by her capable hands.

She concentrated her energy on the big spell now.

When she was ready she commenced reciting the words.

“Great Hecate, You who are the night,
You who are the darkness, the moon above.
Triple goddess, come unto me.

You who commands all things,
Hecate, I invoke Thee,

Oh Great Spirit, hear my plea…”

Very few people knew who or what the Oracle really was. She was one of those lucky few.

The Oracle was a huge network of peeping toms, to put it mildly, a secret community of witches and other various creatures of the lore that worked together to collect information; hey, everyone knew information is power, specially nowadays.

Their favorite mode of collecting data, although not the only one? Communicational electronic devices. Everywhere were there was a phone, radio, tv, camera, computer with internet, or whatever else humans invented, they tapped. Satellites and the internet were their close friends. The ultimate Big Brother.

They watched and heard by the sidelines, recorded, analyzed. All the time, throughout time. No place was left unnoticed, but if you wanted to contact the Oracle on a personal note or request, you had to call them.

This sacrifice Suri had concocted was big enough to please them, big enough to guarantee her the info she wanted, and clever enough to avoid an actual bloodletting and killing. It was too clever for words!

“That which is Wolf but is Not,

That which is Two and One,

Make it no more,

From animal, from man,

Let it remain only human,

You who are the Ending before Life begins again,

You from whom all magic flows,
Great Mystery, Shadow of Darkness,

Grant my wish, make the Wolf die free,

So let it be, Blessed be.”

    

 The moment the final word left Suri’s lips a humming sound could be heard, growing louder and louder until it hurt, a lot. Suri instinctively covered her ears with her hands but the pain was so strong she fell on the floor, her legs buckling.

She felt her power drawn out of her body and circling the sleeping ones, and suddenly, horrible claws, legs, and snapping muzzles started to come out of them; bones crunching, muscles teared, screams of agony filled the Tavern as the spirits of wolves were forced to the Great Beyond leaving behind very fragile, wrinkled, weak, very human bodies.

A long time seemed to pass before Suri felt enough energy to get up again. She swallowed at the sight of her sacrifice wiping the sweat off her forehead and decided she needed some air. It was stifling inside.

She didn’t want to admit that she was feeling a little sick with herself.

She might as well wait for the Oracle out on the street.

Outside the sun shone, people walked by minding their own business, no one noticing that anything had happened inside the Tavern, the music still played loudly. Suri leaned against the wall crossing her arms and out of the corner of her eyes she saw a green light coming from the alley next to the Tavern. A painfully thin scary-looking man with glasses came out and walked to her side. He was wearing an expensive suit, and smelled of chlorine and aseptic ozone.

“You called” he said. Suri nodded, her voice suddenly gone.

“We have deemed your sacrifice sufficient enough, name your request.”

Suri cleared her throat and managed to speak “Most recent whereabouts of the oldest being in the Lore, also known as Him.”

The man pushed his glasses tightly on his nose and waited to make up his mind, or so it seemed to Suri, an eternity.

“Give me your hand” he reached for her.

Suri uncrossed her arms and gave him her right hand. He opened her palm side up and touched her forefinger with the tip of his, a green light just like the one he walked out of appeared to blend into Suri’s hand, gathering on her palm and forming words.

An address.

“According to his behavioral pattern he will stay at that place for at least a fortnight starting yesterday.”

Suri’s palm went back to normal.

“The information will reappear every time you touch your finger where I did, for 48 hours. It will be yours to do as you wish. Then it will be gone, you will not be able to give it, write it, say it or remember it again.”

She nodded. He said good bye in a brisk, efficient manner and was gone the next second.

At that same moment Toren woke up, pulled himself up and looked with horror at what surrounded him, he didn’t want to believe it possible, but he did. All his plans, the future of his race, set back in the blink of an eye. He shouldn’t have underestimated her. Anger, impotence and disappointment rising side by side inside him to boiling point.

Suri could breath again. She looked at her palm and for a moment wondered exactly what she was doing, but shrugged. Then she remembered she forgot to break the magic circle and chuckled.

“Let’s see if Toren can get out of that one”.

Toren’s bellow followed her statement. “SURI!” In his ire, he didn’t notice the potent smell of gas. He breathed fire.

BOOM!

Suri’s body was propelled forward with the strong power of the devastating explosion, she fell hard on the asphalt while her back was plundered with cut glass, small pieces of the Tavern’s walls and fire licking her skin and scorching her.

Through her shock she managed to gather what remained of her magic and teleport away before passing out from the pain.