Escort For The Witch: The Mystery of Psyche's Ruby

One of the strangers guffawed in response. He snorted, tossing his hat aside, and slowly reached for his leather belt, producing a long, deadly-looking knife. A moment later, he yanked the scarf off his face, revealing a toothless grin.

“No, sunshine, this isn’t a quest,” I answered as calmly as I could, rolling up my hoodie sleeves for an imminent fight. “This is…”

“Bandits,” Derek finished the sentence for me, bursting into a violent cough again.

My eyes darted around, taking in every detail, trying to assess the situation. I counted the bandits. There were six of them. A manageable number, considering we had an undead and a witch on our force – and yet enough to make me nervous. I looked down and cursed under my breath. There was our sword, next to the loudly clucking backpack, and I couldn’t grab it without drawing the bandits’ attention. And using one of the girls as a distraction was not an option.

Derek and I exchanged glances. In his greyish-green eyes I read cold intent and determination. He was calculating our next moves, just like I was. Silently, we watched the bandits start to close in on us. The tension in the air was palpable.

“Well, guys,” I finally said, loosening my tie and clenching my fists, “looks like a fight is on the cards. Derek, I need that sword. Cover me, if you can. Sabi, stay close behind me and watch out.”

Derek nodded and got into a fighting stance, gripping the ball tightly. I noticed his eyes darken, and the claw-like fingernails were now longer and sharper than usual. He took a deep breath and grinned at the bandits, revealing razor-sharp fangs. Seeing this, the bandits froze for a moment and stepped back. One of them shouted something in French and took a decisive step toward us, brandishing his knife.

“Looks like Coco is in luck today,” the vampire hissed and hurled the ball at the bandits. It whistled through the air and hit one of them in the stomach. The man doubled up in pain, clutching his stomach and dropping the wooden handle knife.

Derek lunged forward, picked up the sword and started fencing, fending off the second assailant’s attacks with surprising skill and dexterity.

At that moment, Brenda rushed over to the first man, who was still writhing in pain on the ground, and picked up the knife he had dropped. Before he could rise again, her foot caught him square beneath the jaw.

“Jack, catch!” she shouted, throwing me the knife. I caught it mid-air and now had my own blade.

“Sabi, your turn, love,” I winked at my bride-to-be, encouraging her, although deep down I was praying she wouldn’t get hurt.

Another bandit, tall and burly, yanked his hat off and issued an inarticulate battle cry in French. I braced myself for the fight and tightened my grip on the knife. He charged at me like a mad bull, swinging his large knife wildly.

“He’s cursing in French! That’s about all I could get!” Brenda yelled suddenly, hiding behind Derek, who was wielding his sword like a gallant knight.

I dodged him, but only just. I could almost hear the blade cut the air just inches from my face. In the next moment, I grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and punched him square in the face. The bandit yelled and dropped his knife. Not giving him time to recover, I hit him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The man gasped for air and crumpled head-first into the dirt.

I looked around quickly, assessing the situation. Two bandits were slowly approaching Sabrina, their mouths twisted in leering grins. I rushed toward her, but she gestured at me to stop. Stepping back and closing her eyes, my witch stretched out her hand and started moving her fingers through the air, as if pulling at invisible strings. Suddenly, a dull humming sound filled the air. The wind roared in the dense foliage, and the trees began to sway violently. The bandits stopped, unsure whether to continue their approach. I looked up and saw two more bandits in the branches above, their legs dangling in the air. Sabrina opened her eyes and started whirling her hand in the air, as if trying to create a vortex. Then she thrust forward her palm, and the wind slammed into the bandits, knocking them off their feet. I glanced up again just as one of the branches harbouring a bandit snapped under his weight, and he fell to the ground with a yell. The second degenerate was still dangling from his branch and was about to climb back on it for safety when something big, brown and round hit him square in the temple, sending him tumbling down.

“Bullseye!” Brenda shouted to Derek.

Not wasting a second, I jumped up to him and delivered a mighty kick to his jaw, knocking him out cold.

“Life never prepared me for this,” Sabrina panted, clutching my arm. “I’m gonna need therapy. A lot of therapy.”

“We need to help Derek,” I said, still trying to catch my breath. At that moment something we had expected the least, if at all, happened: a phone rang. Sabrina and I froze, staring at each other like idiots. Meanwhile, her phone kept going off in her robe pocket.

“Answer it!” I barked, before noticing another bandit appear behind her out of the corner of my eye.

“Hello?” Sabrina said nervously, her fingers trembling as she put the phone on speaker.

“What the hell, guys, where are you? Everyone’s freaking out here!” came Eric’s irritated voice. “If you decided to run off and get married without us, I’ll get you for this! Where are you anyway? The rehearsal started hours ago, and the bride and groom are missing! Are you out of your minds? Derek and Brenda are gone, too.”

Sabrina slowly sank to the ground next to the clucking backpack, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Almost robotically, she switched the call to video. Eric’s annoyed face appeared on the screen.

Just then, I engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the biggest and ugliest of the bandits.

He looked tougher than the others and knew how to throw a punch. He even managed to hit me twice on the jaw. I howled in pain but kept going. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sabrina hold the phone up in our direction. Was she seriously live streaming the fight? Her face was pale, and her eyes were filled with terror. On the other end, Eric was equally shocked, his mouth agape as he flopped on the bed in my room. I turned around just in time to see a massive, grimy fist flying toward me. I ducked and jumped to the side.

Just then, Derek appeared beside me. His coughing had worsened, and he kept clutching his throat.

“Jack, remember what happened in Vegas?” he rasped.

“I do! And I’m not proud of it!” I replied, dodging another punch aimed at my head.

“I’m not talking about that! The other thing!”

“What happened in Vegas?” Sabrina asked, coming out of her fright coma.

“Trust me, sunshine, you don’t want to know!”

“Anyways, give him to me, buddy,” Derek commanded. I stepped aside, letting the big grimy guy approach. He bared his teeth in a vicious grin and spat on the ground.

He growled something in French and lunged forward.

I darted to the side, letting the attacker land right on Derek. The undead sank his claw-like fingers into the man’s shoulders and gave him a good yank before lowering his head over his prey’s neck. The bandit screamed and went limp in Derek’s arms. The fight was over.

I stood there, breathing heavily, my heart pounding and sweat pouring down my back. I looked around and saw two more bandits lying unconscious on the ground. The rest must have scampered. Slowly, I walked over to where Sabrina and Brenda were sitting quietly, clutching the precious backpack. Even Coco was quiet now. I took the phone from Sabrina’s trembling hands and stared at the screen. To my surprise, the room Eric was in looked the same as on the morning I woke up there the last time. The same burgundy red curtains, the same matching burgundy comforter thrown casually over the same messy king size bed, and the familiar limewashed furniture with delicate gold stencils.

Apparently, while Derek and I were busy manhandling the unfortunate bandit, Eric was joined in the room by my father and another man I didn’t recognize. The stranger was about my father’s age, stocky, with a shiny bald head and a sweaty upper lip. He kept wiping his face with a checkered handkerchief, his large brown eyes darting nervously around the room.

“What the hell, Eric! Is this a joke?” I barked. “If you thought this would be fun, then let me tell you, it’s not! We almost got killed just now!” I was pacing around, throwing nervous looks at the three bodies on the ground and trying to steady my nerves.

As if reading my mind, Sabrina took a pack of cigarettes from her robe pocket and handed me one. I looked lovingly at her. She was clearly putting on a brave face, but all the signs told me she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“Jack, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Eric said, scratching the back of his head. “We’ve been looking for you all morning. I felt like shooting hoops, but you and Derek were nowhere to be found. Sabi and Brenda vanished, too. We thought you were out on the castle grounds somewhere, but…”

“Oh, but we were there alright, having a blast!” Derek’s tired voice came from behind me. “We must now be about three or four hours away from the castle. On foot.”

I startled at the sound of Derek’s voice, recalling what he had done just a few minutes prior.

“I dragged the body into the thicket so the girls wouldn’t see it,” he answered my silent question.

I kept staring at him. He looked terrible. I might even say – downright terrifying. His hair was dishevelled, his eyes bloodshot, and sinister dark stains outlined his mouth.

Blood had splattered his hoodie, T-shirt, shorts, and the once-white sneakers. Bruises had started to form on his skin, and he looked slightly swollen – the aftermath of overindulging in blood. At least he wasn’t going to be hungry for a while now, and we could all breathe a sigh of relief. Feeling a bit self-conscious under my hard stare, Derek busied himself with looking for his sunglasses, which he eventually found on the ground, hidden from view by my backpack.

“Still intact, thank God,” he muttered. “But the ball’s done for.”

“Holy crap! How can it be so sunny where you are, if you’re not too far from us?” Eric asked, turning his phone to face the window. It was almost dark outside and pouring with rain.

“I don’t know,” I replied, taking a drag on my cigarette.

“But maybe I do,” the stranger chimed in. “My name is Armel Dumourier. And if my guess is correct, then I think it’s quite possible that…”

“Oh, just say it already!” my father cut in, clearly agitated.

“I think they are in trouble…” Armel muttered anxiously, scratching his chin.

Chapter 7

The Time Trap

Armel Dumourier was clearly very nervous. He undid a few top buttons of his shirt and swallowed loudly.

“Felix gave you a letter and a ring, correct?” he asked Jack, wiping sweat off his face and adjusting his tiny glasses on the bridge of his nose. “Do you have those artifacts, Mr. Cornell?”

“Yes, I do.”

“You didn’t handle them, did you?” Monsieur Dumourier asked seriously and gave me a hard stare.

“I never really had time to. I just left the pouch on the dressing table by the window and…”

And then I remembered Brenda and my telling her to get a chocolate bar from that very table. I shot a furious glance at the girl still sitting on the ground, her legs crossed, listening intently to our conversation. Our eyes met. Reading my murderous intent, Brenda pursed her lips and buried her face in her arms.