NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Walking forward, they were met by the Witcher, who informed the king on seeing them approach, "Daemon and the men are all at the front, and things are not looking quite good. It is best you two follow this way."

"Mhm," Sthena hummed in reply. The quicker they get this done, the sooner they leave, and also greater their chance of getting to the bottom of everything.

Speaking to the Witcher, Sthena instructed, "Stay here and monitor their movement." To Perdita, he said, "Follow me and stay very close."

Before leaving, Perdita asked the Witcher, "What is your name?" Receiving a pointed look from the witcher, she clarified, "I need to know what to call you when I need to."

"Ophneey," The Witcher replied, staring at Perdita, who then nodded while repeating her name. Caught with what she was doing, Perdita flashed Opheeny a half smile and began walking with Sthena.

"I can’t believe the witches put up a building in the middle of the forest." Perdita whispered, afraid not to alert any witch as they walked into one of the buildings. Through one of the doors they came upon an open space where other buildings stood adjacent to each other with an open space left in the middle.

Perdita’s gaze fell on a heap of coal almost taking up the open space. However, on a closer look, her mouth fell open at what she thought was coal but was rather a heap of burnt bones and skulls.

"Oh dear heavens," She exclaimed, the horror of the witch’s barbaric act making a cool chill run down her spine.

Those were human bones!

The hairs on her nape straightened as she forced herself to tear her gaze away from the scene.

"Are you okay?" Sthena came beside her and took her hand in his as he squeezed it reassuringly.

Perdita nodded, muttering, "I never imagined witches to be this vile." Deep within, she was appalled by her kind and the length they would go just to attain their goal.

"Every creature is vile," Sthena remarked. "You will be surprised to find out that humans sell their families to the witches for money."

Perdita’s head sharply turned in Sthena’s direction as though to understand what he said, to which he didn’t say more, making her think how horrible people could be and the lengths the heart can go in being so evil.

"You will see more gut-wretching things. You can stand outside the door and wait." Perdita nodded to the words of Sthena. She feared she could take in more of the horrific things these witches had done.

She watched Sthena enter one of the rooms while also peeking through the door. She wrinkled her nose at the foul smell coming from inside that had her wonder what was inside.

Some minutes passed as she continued to wait for Sthena to come out, her leg already feeling the weight of standing for too long. Leaning against the wall, she exhaled as the sound of fighting got closer to where they were.

"Perdita," she heard her name, jerking her from her thoughts. She turned in the direction of the voice and saw Sthena waiting for her, and she heard him say, "What are you doing still standing there? Come here."

Perdita blinked, slightly confused. She asked, "When did you come out? I did not hear you step out."

"You must have been lost in thought you didn’t hear me," Sthena said, stretching his hand for her to hold. And she walked towards him as they rounded a corner and entered another building.

"What did you find out? What was in the room?" Perdita quizzed, curious to know what was responsible for the foul smell that was wafting from the room.

"Oh, that?" Sthena shrugged and then answered, "It is just what the witches use to work. Like herbs, vials, and some human parts."

"I never imagined that my kind, even though we are different, could be this vile." Perdita spat, appalled by what the witches were doing each time she thought about it.

"Your kind?" Sthena asked, turning to Perdita.

Perdita’s brows narrowed slightly in question as she stared back at Sthena. What sort of question was that? She asked herself, pausing in her steps.

Noticing the questioning look, Sthena lightly chuckled. "I was joking with you. Come on, we have a place to be at immediately."

"No," Perdita negatively shook her head. "We have no place to be."

Sthena frowned, staring at Perdita with his lips set in a thin line. "What do you mean, Perdita?"

"I’m sorry to disappoint you now, but I am not doing this with you." In the next second, Perdita’s nails elongated into claws, and in one swift motion, she swiped at Sthena’s neck, the other hand aiming for his heart as she dug into his chest.

"Per... Perdita?" Sthena stuttered in pain, hurt in his eyes as his mouth filled with blood, veins popping from all over his face. "Why?" He questioned, holding his bleeding neck, and Perdita’s hand now holding his heart as it thumped in her palm.

"Quit calling my name and stop acting like you know me, you freak of a witch!" Perdita spat, her hand squeezing the beating heart.

"Wh...what do you mean? It is me, Perdita. I’m no witch."

Perdita scoffed, rolling her eyes. "The Sthena I know can never speak like you. It is an insult to him that you tried to be him. You chose the wrong person to do this with." She exhaled and, without waiting for another second, plucked the heart she held, her hand bloodied almost up to her elbow.

Just as she had suspected, the body of the man she killed began to shred his skin he had to be replaced with the scaly nature that belonged to witches.

A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of what could have happened had she not discovered this wasn’t Sthena. She had to admit, looking at his face still in this witch’s body was the last thing she thought to see today, and the sight of it bewildered her.

"Damn it!" Perdita cursed under her breath. How could she have made such a mistake of not recognising Sthena?! She had let this fool deceive her.

How many minutes has it been since she was gone? "I need to quickly get to Sthena." Perdita muttered as she quickly left the building she had entered in search of Sthena. This was no time to be separated from him.

Walking down the corridor from where they had come from, Perdita rounded the corner that would lead her to the building where she and Sthena got separated, however, on turning the corner, she was met with a big hall.

"What the hell is this?" She exclaimed in shock. The hairs on her nape straightened at once as a chill ran down her spine down to her toes, almost making her stumble.

Had she not followed the right way? She asked herself but shook her head at the question because she had clearly followed the same corridor, as it was just one corridor that would lead one to the next building.

How then did she walk into a hall filled with witches? Or not...she thought as she took a closer look.

Inside the hall were bodies, not just bodies but ones that looked alive, yet they looked dead. Their eyes appeared hollow, their cheeks sunken, their body too pale to be witches and too scaly to be vampires.

What are these creatures?! Why do the witches have them in their custody?

"Oh no, Sthena needs to see this immediately." Perdita immediately turned on her heels in search of Sthena.

But how does she do that when she doesn’t even know how she got here?