The Gamma's Dark Witch

22 - Abandoned

(Nisha)

We were on the road before dawn. The numbed confusion I felt thawed with every passing hour until I could barely sit still with the anxiety rolling through me.

I wanted answers, but more than that, I didn’t want to know.

Not yet.

I trusted the wolves wouldn’t hurt my sisters, and even though I had only been away for a few days, I missed them. I wanted Soleil to explain everything to me in a way I could comprehend for once. I wanted them all to come together with a solution that made sense so I could go back to the confused life I lived, the ignorant bliss.

Cameron didn’t ask me much, less than he did when we were looking for Laurel’s house. He only asked about the distance from the river, and I knew he knew. Knew that we were the ones that deprived that small pack from their home.

“We’re close. I’m sending the first team out now,” Cameron said to the driver.

A few minutes later, we rolled to a stop and were walking through the familiar woods. Cameron kept glancing at me, but I couldn’t do anything besides look at my feet, pretending to take great care over my steps. “This is the right way?” he asked after a while. I nodded.

The trees thinned, and I could sense we were near. “It’s just through there.”

Cameron stopped and signaled for me to wait. I glanced nervously through the trees but could barely make out the cottage in the distance.

“My team says it's clear, been abandoned.”

“Already?” I asked, with a mix of shock and fear.

They left me? Already? They didn’t even wait for me to come back?

“At least a day,” he confirmed. “Do you want to go in?”

“Yes.” I walked past him with my head held high, trying to muster some semblance of confidence.

I stilled when I reached the familiar worn door. The place that we spent a full season in felt cold and empty despite the summer’s warmth.

“I’ll check it first,” Cameron suggested, and I held up my hand to him before placing it on the door, looking to tap into our shared powers. I didn’t sense any blocks, but I never really looked for them among my sisters.

“It should be okay,” I said, “Someone, the wizard-”

“Ezowyn,” Cameron confirmed, and I nodded.

“Yes, he lives here. And maybe…” I shrugged. Maybe they left a note. Maybe I would find something that pieced everything together.

“I’ll still go first,” Cameron said, pushing ahead, and I let him.

He slowly walked around the room, taking in the shabby surroundings with an impassive face. “They left last night,” he said confidently to himself.

I pulled myself over the ladder to the loft. It was bare, as bare as the night we first arrived. The sleep rolls, my one duffel bag of things, everything was gone. I looked around, hoping that I could find some of my belongings. Not that I was really attached to any of it, just clothing mostly, and a few small things I found to be useful among our travels, but I realized it was all that ever truly belonged to only me.

“Find anything?” Cameron’s rich voice came from directly behind me, making me jump.

“Nothing at all,” I responded.

“Is there anything you want to bring with you?”

I looked back around at the loft and the open room below. “No.” There wasn't anything left to bring. I didn't own anything in this world; even the clothes on my back were gifted by Isla. My shadows caressed my skin gently as if trying to comfort me as if trying to remind me.

No matter what, I would always have my darkness. The thought wasn't as terrifying or hollow as it once was.

Cameron’s eyes clouded over when we left the house. “Show me to his workspace.” The raw authority in his voice was unlike anything I’d heard. It didn’t frighten me; it did the opposite entirely.

“This way,” I motioned him forward. I hadn’t been there in weeks and never inside of it. After we changed the flow of the river and ensured it stuck, there wasn’t a reason for us to return. It was unspoken, but none of us wanted to go back to the river, Kevari, most of all. And despite our curiosity about Ezowyn and none of us really trusted or liked him, and I was glad for the space.

Cameron paused and sniffed the air as we got closer, his dark blonde brows tugged together. “Something isn’t right,” he said, and his eyes clouded again. “I want to see for myself, but you can stay here.”

“I’m coming.” I jutted my chin out. He opened his mouth to say something. "What will a wolf do against magic?" I asked. His mouth snapped shut, and his jaw ticked.

I felt it a few steps later. I was hit with a thrumming cold power that just felt wrong. It seemed to pulse through the forest itself with every passing step. Cameron stopped and looked at the trees, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He ran a thumb down the bark of a tree. It crumbled and turned to dust under his finger. He looked back in question, and I barely shook my head. I had no idea what happened. I hadn't seen anything like that before.

I glanced at the other trees, reaching out but then deciding against it. I almost bumped into Cameron's back when he stopped.

“We’re not going in,” Cameron said, his voice hard and absolute. “Not even you.” He looked back down at him. His normally composed face seemed to strain, and I followed his line of vision.

A darkness was spreading from Ezowyns windmill. It scarred the area around it with black veins that crawled out from the wooden structure. Everything around it was dead and reeked of a sulfur-stained decay.

“What is this?” I asked.

This place was changed.

What did we do? I echoed in my mind.