Season Of The Witch Huntress

All the lawns on Metone Avenue are mowed on Wednesday.  These lawns are all perfectly manicured, the same size, nearly identical except for personal choices in plants and ornaments.  All the white painted, two-story houses are pratically identical as well. Children played. Neighbors had stylish lawn parties. You could say it was perfect.  

Especially since the Perkins sisters took care of the witch.

#

Of course, to the untrained eye, Annis Holmes did not look like a witch. In fact, in her sweater sets and flared skirts, dirty blonde hair covered with a flowered scarf, she looked more like 1950s housewife. The head of the neighborhood watch, won the local pie contest every year, the woman pratically reeked of propriety.

So, as Annis walked down the street, carrying reusable bags of groceries—as was the responsible thing to do now—no one knew she was preparing for her coven’s next meeting. Or that her eyes were peeled for the perfect main dish. There had to be a vagrant somewhere, some stranded out of the towner, someone who could be easily lured with the promise of help, or food. Someone who wouldn’t be missed…

That was when she felt something large bump into her, causing her to drop her bags.

“Oh, I am so sorry…”

Scrambling to pick up the fallen cans, was a girl in her late teens, ebony black tresses falling in curls, a few of them falling into her face as she franticly gathered up groceries. A little skinny, but she would do.

“It’s quite alright.” Annis assured her, leaning down to help, “Your one of Hal and Betty’s girls, aren’t you? Harmony, isn’t it?”

“Melody, actually.” The girl corrected her nervously, standing up a moment, “Harmony’s my sister. Well, one of them anyway.”

Right. The Perkins had triplets. Identical triplets if she wasn’t mistaken. Surely, they didn’t miss one. Back in the day they the couple might have thought she was doing them a favor. People were so protective of children now; it was such a nuisance. “Say, do have a minute to help me get these in?”

“Sure.” Melody smiled, oblivious to the danger she was in.

She led the girl into the house. “So, just sit them down on the counter and then I’ll start sorting.”

As Melody followed her instructions, Annis poured a glass of tea, slipping white powder into the glass while the girl’s back was turned. After stirring it to make sure the concoction dissolved, she turned around, holding out the glass. “How about some sweet tea?”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly–” Melody responded.

“Oh, I insist.” Annis said, placing it in the teenager’s hand with perhaps too much force to be inconspicuous.

“Okay then.” Melody smiled awkwardly.

Annis walked away, putting up cans and glancing back to make sure Melody was drinking. The girl had barely drunk half the glance when she started to sway on her feet, grabbing the counter to steady herself.

Annis turned around, feigning concern.  “What is it dear?”

“I-I think I might be getting sick.” Melody groaned, stumbling as she tried to walk. Tripping over her own feet, Melody fell into Annis’ waiting arms, still struggling.

Annis made hushing noises, caressing her victim’s cheek. “It’ll all be over soon.”

“What did you do to me?” Melody moaned, her words starting to slur, “What did you—what—did you wh—” Her voice trailed off as her eyes closed, losing the battle with unconsciousness, and going limp like a ragdoll in Annis’ arms.

#

An hour or so later, Annis was chopping up leafy green vegetables in the kitchen when there was a knock on the door.  She tried to ignore it, hopping whoever it was would think they weren’t home and leave, but whoever it kept knocking, then a young woman’s voice from within the house called out, “Help me! I’m down here! Help!”

Letting out an exasperated sigh,  Annis grabbed a dishcloth from the counter and trotted off towards the living room, opening another door and heading down into the basement, the cries for help becoming louder.

#

In the corner of the basement, Melody sat with her hands pinned behind her back, bound in thick, tight nylon rope, painfully cutting in too her wrists, the same coiled around her ankles and knees, which were starting to become numb and tingling.

“Help me!” She screamed out again, “Help—” Her voice trailed off in refreshed fear when she saw Annis descending the stairs and trotting towards her. “Leave me, alone, please.” She whimpered, “Go away, go away—” Her voice was cut off as Karlene roughly grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head to a painful angle and eliciting a scream.

“Will you not shut up?” Annis gritted, wrapping the dishcloth around Melody’s head, covering her mouth, and tying it tightly. “Now, how unpleasant your last hours are up to you. Keep this up and I’ll boil you alive. And I’ll make sure you’re conscious through all of it. “With that she trotted back up the stairs, ignoring Melody’s muffled sobs.

#

When she got upstairs, she realized whoever was knocking earlier was still knocking. Seriously? She thought, plastering on a smile, and walking towards the door, calling out pleasantly, “Coming.”

She opened the doors and found a teenage girl, identical in every way to her captive in the basement except she wore her black hair plaited into a long side-braid.  “I’m sorry to bother you. I live down the street, and I’m looking for my sister, Melody.  She looks…well, she looks like me, except her hair’s curly. She was supposed to meet us after work, but she never showed up. You wouldn’t have seen her, have you?”

“I can’t say I have.” Annis lied, feigning sympathy.

“Well, if you see her, tell her Lyric and Harmony are looking for her.” The girl requested.

Seriously? They named their kids’ Melody, Harmony and Lyric?  Annis had to fight back a scoff. Surely these people were too dumb to miss one child. “If I see her, I’ll be sure to tell her that. “

“Thank you,” The girl said, turning to go, “I won’t keep you.”

Unable to help herself, Annis went down to the basement. For a minute, she thought she head a thud, almost like a shutting door. “No…”

Running down the stairs, preparing attack spells under her breath, only to find Melody still tied up where she left her. “What did you do?”

Melody just whimpered.

“What the Hell did you?!” Annis demanded, running for the door at the far end of the basement. Trying the door, she found it locked. “What the—” Shrugging off, she turned around, staring at Melody. “One of your sisters just came by. They’re looking for you.” She walked back up the stairs, “Quite sad really that  they’re not going to find you.”

#

`A few hours before her coven was supposed to arrive, having cut up the vegetables, and gathered the spices she would need, Annis walked down to the basement where Melody sat with her head hung, looking like she had given up on her fight for life. As Annis walked closer, Melody’s head shot up, trying to scamper back, only to find she had nowhere to go.

Annis sighed, leaning down, beginning to cut the ropes around her ankles, and knees, before pulling the girl to her feet, hands still bound.

That was when the door burst opened, sending dust everywhere, surrounding Melody’s sister, this time accompanied by a third girl who looked just like them except her hair, still curly, was cut in a sharp, severe bob. Both girls were holding riffles.

What? Annis thought, staring, unable to comprehend what she was seeing for a few moments.

That was long enough for Melody to kick Annis in the shin, sending her halfway to the ground in pain, when the short-haired sister shot something from the gun, not a bullet apparently, as it didn’t penetrate her chest, but it still hurt, a lot,  causing Annis’ world to quickly fall past her as he went to the ground, dull pain shooting through her legs, bottom and back.

“You okay, Mel?” The plaited-hair sister asked, cutting Melody ‘s hands free.

“Physically.” Melody grumbled, rubbing one of her bruised wrists, then the other, to very little effect, “But next time one of you can be the bait.”

Meanwhile, the short-haired one, had Annis pinned to the ground, a knife to her throat. “Now listen here, witch…”

“Just say what you really want to say,” Annis seethed.

“No, that wasn’t some sort of minced oath.” The short haired one countered, “No, when I said witch. I meant witch. Literally. Because that’s what you are. And this knife had salt sprinkled into it when it was forged. Doesn’t salt nullify your power?”

“Lyric, what did Mom and Dad about mocking the target?” The one with her hair in a plait, Harmony, Annis supposed, scolded.

Lyric sighed, “‘Don’t be a sadist’.”

“Right,” Harmony replied, before addressing Annis, “This is why we don’t give her the gun with the bullets.” She cocked her shotgun, then leaned down, leaning down, and putting it under Annis’s chin, the metal digging into her skin a little. Not enough to hurt, but enough to be uncomfortable.  “Her trigger finger’s too itchy.  But this one’s got bullets specifically designed to put down any kind of magic wielder, so you got two options here: Option one, you get out of town, you never lay a finger on another person, and you seriously rethink your life choices. Option two, you don’t leave this basement alive. Because we kill you, if that wasn’t already clear. Now, which one is it?”

Annis glared at the girl with the gun to her throat, then broke into a cruel smile. “How ‘bout a third option?”

As Annis whispered under her breath, the two girls flew through the air, the world around them gray, before they hit the wall with a aching thud.

Annis grabbed Melody roughly by the hair, causing the girl to let out a frightened, pained yelp. “I take this one upstairs and finished her off, then I’ll come down and take care of you two.”

Just then, the back door shut with a horrifying clap.

While sore, the girls weren’t unconscious. They tried to crawl towards the weapons, only for Annis to rush to grab the knife, then put it to Melody’s throat. “Nuh, uh.” The witch tsked, “One false move and sister dear gets it.”

“Didn’t you just say you were going to kill her anyway?” Lyric pointed out.

Annis froze, thrown. “Uh…”

It was enough time for Harmony to grab the shotgun, the real shotgun, shooting  Annis in the kneecap, the pain sending the woman to her knees and  the knife to the floor with a clatter, Melody running for her sisters.

“It’s okay, Mel.” Lyric soothed, hugging her sister and running her finger’s through the other girl’s hair, “You’re okay, you did great.” Over her sister’s shoulder, she glared at Annis.

Harmony walked up to the witch, cocking the gun. “You want to try this again?”

#

A few hours later, the Perkins triplets were sitting on the hardwood floor of their home, treating each other’s wounds, when a man and woman, their daughter’s features clear in both their faces, the woman’s dark hair, the man small nose, walked through the door. “Okay,” Their mother,  spoke up, “We dumped Annis on the edge of town, and we have spies on her. If she tries anything, we’ll know.”

“What about the coven?” Lyric spoke up.

“Our people are on it.” Their father spoke up.

Sometimes, neat little lawns and white picket fences hid witches. Other times, they hid whole families of witch hunters.

Their crouched down in front of Melody. “You okay, Mel? I know you’ve been a lot today.”

“My wrists hurt like crazy, and I’m probably going to have some nightmares for a while.” Melody admitted, “But I’ll be fine.” As her mother went in for a hug, she added, “But I wasn’t kidding about one of them being the bait next time.”

Harmony smirked. “I think that can be arranged.”