Chapter 20

The White Witch.


We were moving down a rocky road when I blinked and opened my eyes sometime later. I recognised the back of the car. Julian and Jasper were in front, sitting in silence. There was plaster on my arm and I felt weak, drained of my usual strength. Jasper had obviously spellbound me and took my blood without my permission. Disappointment and anger jetted through my system, reminding me of what Nathaniel said about Jasper. He had been right all along: Jasper used me to get what he wanted from Julian.
Red-hot anger rang through loud and clear and my fingertips released a few unexpected sparks. Jasper was just a dirty little scumbag; his obsession with dark magic went beyond normal understanding. He allowed Julian to take my blood and who knew what else he’d promised him. I’d been out, unconscious. I felt sick and sourly disappointed.
I met Jasper’s eyes in the front mirror. Yeah, he looked like he was already regretting his decision. I shot him an angry stare and then the front mirror cracked. I smiled to myself. Julian flinched but didn’t say anything. The car rolled through the bouncy road, and fully detached houses rose on our right as we climbed the hills.
We were still in Wales, but somewhere near the coast. I felt and smelled the salty air, hearing the seagulls squawking. I needed to forget about my rage and calm down. My meeting with the white witch was close and that was what mattered the most. Julian had my blood, but I had something more valuable, his ancient spell.
For about twenty minutes there was a long, awkward silence in the car. The weather outside looked horrendous: grey clouds hung over the sky, thick rain was pouring down. Julian pointed at the house as we approached and mumbled to Jasper to take a left, then pass through the steel gate. In front of us a large white stone mansion stood breaking the grey landscape. There were two gargoyles on each side by the entrance. For a second, I wondered if Julian brought us to the wrong location.
"Jasper, I don’t want to be rude, but Julian’s fucking with us," I said, thinking about the spells that I remembered. There was a very limited possibility that a hunted creature like the white witch lived in a place like this. I didn't detect any paranormals inside, and something seemed very wrong.
Julian lifted his brow and smirked.
"Unexpected, right? Well, the witch works for humans. Sad but true," he explained. "Trust me on this, half-breed. I have the right information."
I wanted to laugh, mocking his comment, but I didn’t need to spoil anything before we went inside.
"Julia, he’s right. You should call your mother and tell her that your father will be fine soon," Jasper said, trying to grab my hand, but I pulled away, shooting him a death stare.
I wanted nothing to do with him. He could forget about my promise, and once my father was out of his coma, Jasper was out of my life, forever.
"Stay away from me."
He didn’t push me and that was a good call; otherwise I wasn't responsible for what I might do to him. This whole setting, the expensive cars in the driveway and the atmosphere of this place, just didn’t fit the image I had in my head. The white witch was supposed to be living away from humans and paranormals. The surroundings and everything else seemed wrong.
Marching next to Jasper, Julian’s expression hadn't shifted. He looked like someone had stabbed a fork between his eyes. I was baffled, confused, and still a little dizzy from the blood loss.
I didn't sense any magic at all; the space was wiped clean from any currents of energy. We approached the white door. I rubbed the back of my neck wondering what I was going to say to the paranormal who held such a powerful gift. I didn’t know what Jasper or Julian had planned, but if the witch worked for humans, they most likely already knew what they were going to say.
Julian knocked once. After some time, I heard footsteps and then the door opened. In front of us stood a short, chubby woman wearing a blue uniform. She was human with dark greyish hair and a pleasant smile.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"We would like to speak to the owner," Julian snapped. The woman nodded and showed us inside. This was the weirdest thing I’d ever done. I didn’t expect it to be so easy.
"We should’ve waited outside for the witch. Do you really think we should be getting these humans involved in our business?" I asked.
Julian ran his eyes over my body, not looking too happy that I dared to question his methods. "The witch doesn’t talk to people she doesn't know, half-breed."
The maid walked us to the living room. I ignored Julian’s comment and carried on walking. As I expected, the house was impressive, finished to a high standard. Whoever lived in it had expensive taste. It looked like parquet floors ran throughout the entire main floor.
The maid told us that someone would see us in a few minutes. My fingers went numb because I kept squeezing them so hard, cutting off circulation, trying to calm my nerves. The house belonged to a human, no paranormal had ever lived in it; otherwise I would’ve felt it. This wasn't adding up to anything I was ever told about the white witch.
I was just about to open my mouth to ask Jasper what the hell Julian was playing at, when a woman walked in. She was tall and elegant. She wore a ridiculous amount of jewellery. Her hair was pinned up nicely in the back.
"How can I help you?" she asked coldly, staring at Julian.
He got up and smiled, showing off his fairy features. Any other human would have looked impressed, but the woman didn’t even flinch. Her cold expression didn’t shift, but she shook his hand.
"My name is Julian Savage, and these are my friends. We do apologise for the intrusion, but I believe the person we’re looking for works for you."
The woman didn’t smile or acknowledge that she understood his questions in any way. She tossed her hair behind her and sat down on the vintage chair.
"What exactly is this about, Mr. Savage?"
Jasper kept his hand on his wand, squeezing it tightly, like he was aware that something wasn't right. The woman in front of us was either immune to Julian’s spell or she was hiding her true nature.
"We were told that the girl we’re looking for works here. Nothing has happened; we just want to talk to her. We’re interested in her gift."
The woman paled a little, clenching her fists tightly. It looked like Julian might have struck a nerve.
"Why are you looking for Emily? People in the village have been talking, right?" she asked and then stood up waving her hand. "It doesn’t matter. I knew. I tried to keep it a secret for as long as possible."
When the maid came back into the room, the woman added, "Diana, please bring tea for everyone."
I was going to say that I was fine, but the maid disappeared shortly after that. Julian smiled.
“It's nothing serious. We just want to talk to her, that’s all."
"Emily has been working for me for over ten years, since my youngest child was born. She doesn’t like strangers."
Right, now I was totally confused and lost. Maybe Julian had made a mistake. The white witch couldn’t have worked for a human as a baby-sitter. This whole thing sounded absurd.
Julian didn’t look discouraged, continuing to smile widely.
"So, she works for you as a nanny?" he asked with a hint of disbelief.
"Yes, she has been working for me for a long time. She’s part of the family. There had been some incidences, but… I don’t regret anything."
"She healed your son, didn't she? When he fell off the pony?"
I opened my mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Julian knew more than any of us. It looked like he scored. The colour drained from the woman’s face. All of a sudden everyone went silent. Then the maid walked back in holding a tray. She placed a beautiful set of china on the coffee table. I thought I needed a drink to kind of digest everything that was going on.
Her eyes darkened, moving from Julian to Jasper, finally settling back on Savage.
"My husband didn't believe me, and I tried to keep it a secret, but my staff talked. Then the gossip started. Emily hasn’t been going out much since then."
I put some sugar into my tea and inhaled, feeling the magic settling back around the room. I couldn’t believe that I’d finally found the white witch. She was in this house. Dad was going to live.
When I lifted the tea to drink it, my hands were trembling with anticipation.
"Emily is very special. She hasn’t done anything wrong. We just want to speak to her," Julian pressed.
The tension rose, and I was ready to cast a spell on this woman if she refused to allow us to talk to Emily. My mind was so clouded, but I felt relieved; the search was finally over.
"Carla. Call me Carla, and please have some tea. Emily works for me, so I can’t forbid her from seeing you."
Julian relaxed then and nodded for Jasper to drink. All the tension eased, and my breathing went back to normal.
Carla talked to us for a little longer, asking where we were from. She was trying to keep the conversation going, most likely out of politeness. I knew we had to go through this whole pretense before we could see the white witch. It was around twenty minutes later when she left, letting us know she was going to ask Emily if she was all right to see us. When she finally left, my stomach heaved with anticipation. Jasper and Julian were talking, but I couldn’t concentrate on what they were saying.
Carla came back alone.
"She will speak to the girl, only to her," she announced with a strangely calm expression.
Jasper tensed his arms and got up probably to disagree with Carla, but Julian pushed him back to his seat. I could see that my ex-boyfriend was moving his hand under his jacket, probably to charm our new acquaintance.
"Fine, I’ll speak to her, please," I said with a confident voice. Those two needed to quit bossing me around. I hated the fact that Jasper made this entire search about him.
Carla didn't really give them a chance to tell me what to say. She just left the room. I followed her upstairs to a room in the attic. My palms were damp with sweat as she showed me the white door.
"She might be a little nervous."
I thanked her and went in, not waiting around. The room was cozy and there were a lot of toys lying around. I didn't feel any energy in the air, no tingling or soft breeze. Emily sat on the sofa reading a book. Her hair was cut short, close to her skin.
"Emily?" I asked.
She lifted her eyes and said, "Yes, I'm Emily and you’re Julia. Your father is dying, and you need help?"
My jaw dropped and for a moment I stared at her, unable to say a word. Her eyes were hazel, lighter than Nathaniel’s, but she had a kind face.
I didn't understand what had gotten into me, but I dropped on my knees and crawled to her.
"Please, if you’re the one, the white witch, you’ve got to help me. My best friend and my father, their souls are lost, and they haven’t got much time."
Something was happening, something bad and good at the same time. I felt drunk and ready to do anything to get her back to London. She just had to give me two days.
Her eyes shimmered with resentment. There was pain in them and guilt. I couldn’t move, wanting her to do something.
"I'm not the person who you’re looking for."
I opened my mouth to say something, but my voice hitched in my throat. Magic left me. It vanished, and my blossoming anger faded into disappointment. She was still holding my hands and her skin was incredibly cold.
"No, no, no… you healed Carla’s little boy; you’re the one who I need and want."
She was shaking her head; tears were streaming down my face because I didn’t believe her. Jasper had everything right, even Gordon. The location was accurate. After all this time…no, this wasn't happening.
"My name is Gemma. It was my twin sister; she was the white witch. Our grandmother had some magical genes, but we were both humans. Emily didn’t understand anything. Our mother hid her gift for many years, but the magic always found its way to her. At the age of sixteen she found out about the "other" world and wanted to become a real witch."
I wanted to put my hands over my ears and didn’t want to listen to her anymore. She was wrong—this woman in front of me was lying to me.
"She started working here, then moved away from the North. She healed animals and kids if they were hurt. Then there was more gossip, but Carla treated her like family. Then she came back for a little while and begged me to take her place. She didn’t want to disappoint Carla."
"But Julian was sure and everyone else. This couldn’t have all been for nothing?" I sobbed.
"No one knew, and Carla never even noticed, besides, I can pretend to be her."
"So, where is she now? Do you have her address? I must find her, please."
"Emily moves around a lot; she has been abroad for some time. I think she might be in London."