Witch (The Devil's Roses 4)

Lucas growled and began sniffing the yard.

Sam watched a guy and girl sitting on the bed talking. He smirked at how awkward they looked, they liked each other. He gave a slight tap on the window, making them both jump and turn around sharply.

The guy dove at the window like a hero protecting his girl. He pulled open the window with a look of rage on his face.

“What the fuck? Who are you? Why are you doing this?” He grabbed at Sam.

Sam laughed, “I’m here to help. Has a wolf been here?”

The girl nodded looking terrified. Her left eye was incredibly dark but her right eye was pale and slightly frightening looking. Sam felt badly for her. Her face couldn’t look more terrified. Her pale skin looked stark against her dark hair and one dark blue eye.

“How the fuck did you get up here? What do you want?” The raging teenager got in Sam’s face. Sam tried not to laugh, “I am a magical being with powers like being able to travel without walking or moving. What is your name?” He looked directly at the frightened girl.

She frowned at him, “Who are you?”

“I’m a Rose and you are in terrible danger. If you come with me I can protect you. That wolf won’t be the only thing that comes after you.”

The girl’s face broke into a smile, “Like the Terminator?”

Sam grinned back, “Exactly.”

The guy looked back at the girl, “We need to call the cops. This is nuts Ophelia.”

Sam continued to look into her marvelous eyes. He hoped she would use her ability to sense him and know to trust him. The guards weren't going to let anyone in.

Chapter Nine

Ophelia

The black soulless eyes of the mysterious guy outside her window were trying to tell her something. She didn’t know what, but she felt a hum inside of her mind when she looked at him. He was ridiculously good looking. He made Jake look plain. She couldn’t focus around him, something about him was unnerving. He smelled like something she had never noticed before. He was sex and seduction. His lips…She broke the stare and took a breath.

“What are you?” She whispered.

He grinned at her.

Jake gripped her arms and shook her, “Ophelia we need to call the cops and your parents. Where are they?”

She blinked at him, unable to process what he said.

He repeated himself, “Where are your parents?”

“They went to the movie.”

Jake’s thoughts seemed to pour into her mind, but it was as if they found their way in through his touch. He was frightened, he liked her a lot. He wanted to punch the beautiful stranger with the black eyes.

Ophelia snapped out of the haze and blocked his thoughts from her mind. She pulled away from him and turned to her bedroom door. She flung it open, panicked suddenly. His last thought made her skin crawl.

“Your sister.” Jake’s words were a whisper.

Her feet couldn’t move quickly enough on the bare hard wood floor. She skidded down the hall and flung the door open. Abbey's dark room sat empty. The only movement came from the huge picture window, where the long white silky curtains billowed in to the black room. The open window looked different. She shivered walking forward, feeling the carpet beneath her toes. She gulped. Her sister wasn’t there. Her bed sat empty. The covers were pulled back. The cool breeze that played with the curtains found its way to her. Her skin prickled with fear and confusion. She stopped one foot short of the window, seeing the screen was missing. Her sister was obsessive with bug screens. She was allergic to mosquito bites.

Ophelia leaned forward to see the torn screen lying on the grass below.

She gulped again and looked back at Jake who filled the lit doorway behind her.

“She’s gone.” Her voice was a whisper.

“We need to call the police.”

She took a step back to him, “I know but I’m scared Jake. That wolf didn’t look like any wolf I’ve seen before and that man on my window ledge, how did he get there?”

Jake put a hand out for her. The feel of his warm skin was a welcome feeling compared to cold of her sister's room.

Jake pulled his cell from his pocket and dialed with his free hand. She let her hand drop from his and walked back in to her room. The dark eyed guy was still perched in her window. His expression looked pained.

“She’s gone. My sister. Her window, the screen.” She felt dizzy trying desperately to process it.

He nodded, “Others know about you Ophelia. You need to come with us.”

“I want my sister back.”

“You have a spell on the house that will keep you safe as long as you stay inside of it. Nothing can get to you inside of here but you can’t ever leave. They will come for you.”

She shook her head, “You’ve come for me it seems.”

He smiled, “I have. I also have no intention of harming you. They do.”

She shook her head, “I don’t know you. I just want you to go away. I want my sister back.”

She closed her eyes trying to regain some composure. She felt her grip on her emotions slipping.

“I called the sheriff. He’s coming directly.”

She spun, “Jake, he isn’t going to believe us. A huge wolf snuck in my sister’s window and stole her in the night and this guy flew up here.” She looked back at the guy in the window, “Will you even be here if the cops come?”

He shook his head.

She put her hands on her hips and looked back at Jake.

His face was flushed, he looked angry in a way she’d never seen, “Ophelia someone is fucking with us. He climbed, he never flew. The wolf was probably trained to distract us so they could kidnap your sister. They’re holding her ransom until you go with them.”

It made more sense than the explanation she was processing. She couldn’t shake the feelings she was having or the fact she wasn’t afraid of the guy in the window. The wolf didn’t seem trained, it seemed savage.

She looked back at the guy in the window but he was gone. The wind blew in the empty window. She frowned at the empty space and slumped onto the floor.

Jake went to the window and closed it and the blinds.

“Sheriff’s here.” He ran out of the room and down the stairs. She sat on the floor alone, waiting for something to start making sense.

‘Ophelia you need to get out of here. They know. They know you’re alive.’

She looked around at the air. The voices usually brought the ghosts with them.

No one was in the room with her.

She walked down the stairs after Jake.

“Sheriff I saw it.”

Sheriff Walker stood in her doorway, he didn’t seem to be able to walk past the threshold of the door.

He grinned when he saw Ophelia.

“Honey are you okay?”

She nodded. She couldn’t help but notice he stood at the line of her doorway. His feet never budged past the doorway.

“Sheriff come-“

“NO!” She shouted wild-eyed at Jake. She leapt at Jake and clamped his mouth with her hands. She whispered, “Look at his feet, it’s like the wolf.”

Jake’s eyes dropped to the feet staying exactly out of the house but as close as they could get.

“Ophelia what’s the problem? Why don’t you come to my car and we’ll see about your sister.” He stepped back and held a hand out.

Ophelia shook her head, “No my parents are upstairs. They said she’s at a friends.”

The sheriff, she had known her entire life, watched her silently. His smile turned to a sickly sweet grin, “Ophelia invite me in.”

She shook her head, “My parents are upstairs.”

His grinned hardened on his face, “Ophelia invite me in. We need to make a report about the wolf.”

She took a step back, taking Jake with her. He had removed her hands from his mouth but he watched in silence. The Sheriff suddenly seemed to be much more than was possible.

Jake gripped her fingers, “Sheriff why can’t you just step in to the house?”

The Sheriff laughed, “Oh Ophelia, you silly girl. Now, just ASK ME IN THE FUCKING HOUSE!” His face erupted in anger. His skin paled against the porch lights. Fangs shot from his front teeth.

“Ophelia you’re in danger. Bad people are coming for you.” His eyes began to glow bright yellow. His face started to shiver. She screamed and lunged at the door. She slammed it shut and jumped back at Jake.

“What’s happening? It’s like a horror movie out there.”

He stood completely still, his lower lip trembled slightly, “I don’t know. We need to get out of here.”

She nodded, “We need that guy, I don’t know why but I trust him Jake.”

Jake’s face turned dark, “You think he’s hot.”

She knit her brow, “What?”

He took a step toward her, “He’s a bad guy. A very bad guy. I can tell.”

She took a step back, “Jake I don’t think he’s hot. I-I-I just think he can help. Why are you saying this?”

His eyes focused on hers and then as if a storm passed he blinked, “I don’t know. I feel like I’m not in control.” He blinked again and rubbed his eyes.

She sighed and took the step toward him again, “It’s late and you’re tired, I’m exhausted. Let’s just go back to my room.” She put a hand out for him. He took it. She wondered if he was going to change like the sheriff, who she had known her entire life.

He took her hand in his and squeezed, “Maybe it’s all a dream, a bad dream.” He pulled her to him, “Except the part where you finally let me in.” He smiled his charming grin at her.

She shivered seeing the look upon his face.

He pulled her into his embrace. His warm arms circled her and crushed her into him.

He rested her head against his chest and kissed the top of it. She closed her eyes and imagined it the way it was supposed to be. She wished it was prom and she was in her prom dress and he was in a tux. She wished they were dancing at the school. The night was filled with magical lights and music.