Come Back Witch

Slowly a thin ray of light started to fade into the cave; he knew it was just a few more minutes until he could finally stand under the warmth of the sun again.

Nearly tumbling over a small stone lying on the ground, his mood fell even further. Leaning on the spear he had traded for his stick, he rested for a moment. There was no reason to hurry.

Nor did he want to leave the safety of the cave before his legs had restored themselves enough to allow him to walk with help.

Feeling the cold bone of the skull in his hand, he really didn't want to hold another person's head. But it was the right thing to do; if he were to die inside this cave, a proper burial would be what he'd be hoping for too.

After just a few more minutes of quietness except for the whizzing wind, he slowly started to continue his way out. It was nice to finally be able to not have to worry about his walking stick breaking.

The durability of this spear seemed to be exceptional; even with his might, he couldn't bring it to bend even a small bit. He wasn't sure if it was the work of the runic circles written on it or the material.

It was made out of wood, burned brown from what looked like more than one fire, but it still didn't feel like charcoal. The more he thought about it, his confusion only increased.

The length also was too short to be a spear used back in the medieval ages. Barely even taller than him. The metal head was also strange; while the rest of the spear was decorated and of high quality, this top was only a small metal piece, not fitting the whole design.

It felt like the spearhead was changed a few times already, instead of the shaft, which was highly uncommon for combat weapons.

As slowly as the temperature of the cave started increasing again and the dripping of water long faded away. Vinces finally felt a strain of sunlight on his skin again.

Even though it felt amazing to finally leave this creepy place, he didn't know if he was prepared for what was about to follow. The weight of the skull he carried only seemed to increase with every step.

He knew if he didn't pay enough attention, his future would be the same as his bodiless companion. Not giving his dark thoughts too much focus, he rather concentrated on what was ahead.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The rest of the cave seemed to be similar to the rest; only the number of dripstone pillars he had seen at the entrance had completely disappeared as if this cave were created by human hands.

But there was one more thing unnatural about the exit, there was wood in the middle of the cave. Stacked as if it were for a campfire, but Vinces had no idea who placed it there, it could've been the murderer or the camp of the dead person he found.

Readying his new weapon, he tried to stand on his broken leg. Which this time did not instantly let him down; instead, he was able to stand tall if he focused most of his weight on his working one.

As he approached, it became clear the campsite had been abandoned. The fire had long since gone out, and there wasn't another soul in sight.

Letting his guard down, he started to inspect the place, the carefully stacked wood at the wall was barely used, only roughly a tenth of it missing. There also weren't any other supplies, which ruled out the possibility of this campsite still being used.

There were just some wooden carvings sprayed all over the floor, probably created by a group of people, but why had they left them behind? Finding no answer to his question, he continued his inspection.

Walking over towards the fireplace, some heat was still radiating from the remaining mix of charcoal and wood, but something shiny caught his attention. A weirdly formed metal object was lying on the bottom of the fire, not much bigger than his student ID.

No, it was extremely close to the same amount of metal as his own student ID, the kind every student at his school carried. Vinces wanted to take a step back but instead slowly lowered his hand into the radiating heat, and as he could feel pain burning through his arm, he still didn't stop.

Quickly picking the metal from the ground, he could feel the molten metal trying to eat away at his skin. Putting it onto the cold stone floor, he finally was able to compare it to his own.

Laying his ID right next to it, it nearly seemed to be identical; as his hands began to shake, it must've been a coincidence. Or maybe his friends had created this camp and accidentally thrown it into the fire.

One of the others must have dropped it into the fire. That had to be it. Right? Calming himself slowly, he sat on the ground, hoping to catch a relaxing minute. There was no use in leaving the cave while his mind was occupied by something else.

Picking up one of the wooden carvings lying next to him, he mindlessly played around with it. Its form made no sense, it looked like no animal or human. Instead, it looked like an arm.

Picking up another carving, it too looked like an arm, as a cold unease settled in his chest. Scrambling to his feet, he stared at the rest of the remaining parts, only now realizing each one of them was a body part of a puppet.

Why had the people living here created puppets, and why had they left behind so many parts? They must've left in a hurry if they left them here. But before he could think about the strange situation once more, weak footsteps could be heard echoing at the exit of the cave.

Somebody was coming back to the cave, Vinces readied his spear. He didn't know if anyone was a friend or fiend. Setting the skull on the ground, he continued to listen to the slowly approaching steps.

He thought about hiding somewhere and observing first, but the surroundings barely gave him any cover. But he would still try, quietly walking towards the stacked wood, he leaned against the wall. Only daring to gaze towards the exit every few seconds.

Something entered, the light behind it hiding most of its features. He was sure it was a human, but not much else. As the silhouette slowly continued its way inside, it didn't seem to notice Vinces hiding yet.

Only a few moments passed, which felt like an eternity, as the anticipation was killing him. With another gaze he could finally get a good look at the person entering.

Wearing his student uniform, the tall student was standing still, his black hair lying still and perfectly made as always.

Standing in the middle of the cave was the son of their teacher Dr. Cloves, Lers Cloves. Not a scratch on him, not even a speck of dust. As if he just arrived here.

Recognizing his old friend.

Vinces finally relaxed and took a step out of his hiding spot.

''Lers, it's you; I've been searching for you guys."

The moment he recognized his friend, every ounce of caution vanished.