Set me free and change my ways.
Hey, you, Medicine Man; you know what the broken need.
Hey, you, I'll give you a dollar to take this pain away from me.
Medicine man - dorothy
___
Chaos filled the house during the short time they were downstairs. Half a dozen voices were talking over each other, their words vibrating against the walls.
Bruce was speaking loudly on his phone, while Suze conversed with a group of three women. One of them reminded Leonardo of Martha with her long black hair, but when she turned around, her eyes were a light lavender-grey that made her irises glow more than the other witches. Beside her stood a woman with cinnamon-colored skin and chestnut brown hair, and another with wild brown curls and large glasses, her eyes an uncommon indigo shade Leonardo had never seen before.
It was undeniable—the witches possessed a striking beauty and an otherworldly air that hung heavily in the cozy, normal living room. Beings of power, far beyond his comprehension, stood between the comfortable sofas and colorful pillows.
"James," the lavender-eyed woman stepped towards his father with a charming smile that could have made his mother turn red with rage and jealousy. "We are ready to take him in."
"Monique," James acknowledged her with a nod, laying a hand on her shoulder and drawing her closer. Leonardo watched their interaction closely. "Good that you're taking over. Has everyone arrived?"
"Just the three of us. We can't leave the academy unsupervised," Monique replied, leaning in to whisper something to James that Leonardo could overhear. "Those kids would burn down the whole building."
Suze approached them with a basket filled with herbs. "Let's begin."
"Where are Runa and Martha?" Leonardo noticed the empty sofas and the absence of Runa chilled the room. Suze blinked at him, momentarily forgetting he was still present.
"I gave them some sleeping draught. They'll need the rest," Suze explained calmly, her voice as still as a quiet rainy night. "I can give you some too, it helps with the healing," she offered, but Leonardo shook his head firmly before considering the pros and cons.
"I don't need it," he asserted, his voice growing stronger as his energy slowly returned and the throbbing pain receded into the background. "What will you do to Louis?" he asked, curiosity tinged with a hint of fear.
"You can watch, if you can handle it," Suze's tone was innocent, almost teasing, but her words sent a shiver down Leonardo's spine. If he had known what he was about to witness, he might have fled the house faster than he could say "witch."
The small group of five made their way down to the cellar, carrying baskets and bags filled with various items. The heavy scent of herbs dominated the musty air of the basement. Their footsteps echoed loudly against the cold floor.
Bruce remained sullen in the doorway, arms crossed, while Suze gathered all the metal objects from the table and dumped them on the ground. She seemed nonchalant, a stark contrast to the fact that these were clearly tools meant for torture.
Leonardo leaned against the wall, seeking a spot free of blood. He wrinkled his nose when Louis sneered at him.
Louis realized things were not looking good for him and began cursing loudly when he saw Suze. He spat on the ground and openly glared at every member of the Coven, the dirty rag still in his shoulder wound.
The Coven clearly held no affection for him. Monique visibly wrinkled her nose and stepped closer to him. She slowly pulled on leather gloves and delicately placed a finger under his chin.
"Louis, I presume?" Her earlier warm voice turned icy. "I'm Monique, and we're going to get to know each other very well."
A chill ran down Leonardo's back; he shuddered and rubbed his arms. Bruce shot him a warning look, which only earned an eyeroll in response. His father's eyes burned as he met Bruce's gaze, a look so intense that even the formidable witch glanced away in shame.
Monique gave Louis a smile that under different circumstances might have been charming and warm. "And I'm looking forward to it."
The four members of the Coven worked swiftly and smoothly. Monique led the group, orchestrating each step. They ended up with a blue liquid and examined the mixture under the dim light of the cellar. The harsh glow of the single lightbulb cast a thousand bluish rainbows over the moldy walls.
"Excellent work," Monique praised, giving Louis a toothy smile as she approached him. Bruce moved swiftly, a gust of wind passing Leonardo as he pushed Louis's head back. With Monique's elegance and effortless grace, the suspicious liquid was poured into Louis's mouth.
He tried to spit it out, but Bruce held his mouth closed. The struggle seemed to last an eternity, until finally Louis swallowed audibly, and Bruce released him.
The witch hunter gasped and coughed as he finally managed to catch his breath.
Monique crouched before him, looking at him with a crooked grin. "Let's start talking."
Louis opened his mouth, a choked "No—" escaping his throat as if his body was betraying him.
Leonardo looked away, bile rising in his throat. He focused his attention on the crack snaking around the floor, meeting the blood running through the drain.
"Who are you working for?" Monique asked, her tone cold and apathetic.
Leonardo looked back at them with wide eyes. He hadn't even considered that there might be more of them. The threat was greater than just Louis.
"No one, I—" Louis shut his mouth, tears filling his eyes as if he was being tortured for remaining silent. "Please, stop it," he begged in a broken voice.
Monique examined a sharp knife that was probably used for cutting plants rather than for pulling people apart. However, its effect was terrifying. Louis trembled as Monique gave him a cold stare.
Leonardo stepped back, pressing against the cold, damp wall. He pushed further, trying to disappear into the wall itself. His hands went to the wound at his side, which throbbed and reminded him of the danger, the risk of being here. These people weren't safe.
"It stops when you answer me," Monique stated clinically, her voice softening to a whisper that cut through the tension in the room. "Stop fighting it."
"I left them," Louis snapped suddenly, desperation in his voice. "They refused to...," he abruptly closed his mouth, as if trying to retract the words he had just uttered.
Monique's gaze hardened, hiding the shimmer in her eyes, a shimmer Leo realized was pitty, as she picked up a sharp knife, typically used for cutting herbs, but now serving to heighten the atmosphere of fear. Louis trembled visibly under her cold scrutiny.
"It stops when you answer me," Monique repeated, her voice becoming more insistent. "Who are they?"
Louis began to sob uncontrollably, his entire body shaking with each convulsion.
"They were supposed to help me," he managed to say between sobs. "They were family... They should have helped her."
"Her?" Monique arched an eyebrow, the potion evidently beginning to take effect as Louis began to divulge information. He seemed on the verge of revealing everything, begging for the ordeal to end.
"My daughter," Louis's voice squeaked out, fragile and raw with emotion.
Monique's expression softened slightly, a glimmer of understanding crossing her features.
"Where is she?" His demand was clear and direct, cutting through the emotional turmoil in the room.
Monique leaned threateningly closer to Louis, her patience wearing thin, evident from the rising arch of her eyebrow. "I will be asking the questions," she growled, her tone commanding. "Where are they? Where is your family?" She pressed on, her demeanor shifting rapidly between moods.
Louis sobbed uncontrollably, his shoulders shaking violently as he struggled to form words through the pain. "I don't know," he managed to say amidst his sobs. "I left them at the base. When I returned, they were gone without a trace."
Leonardo clenched his fists, feeling the urge to react—whether to run away, make Louis stop talking, or perhaps even put an end to his suffering.
Monique's face darkened at Louis's answer, disappointment palpable in the air that threatened to suffocate Leonardo. Furrowing her brow, she absently traced the edge of the knife in her hand. "How did you find Martha?" she asked softly, leaning closer. Louis looked up at her with tear-filled eyes.
Their proximity was intimate, yet the tension crackled with hatred rather than any hint of affection.
Leonardo's heart pounded in his ears, drowning out Louis's response until it registered faintly. "You're not good at hiding your tracks," Louis snarled at her.
"You know we have nothing to do with Char," Monique stated firmly.
"I planned to use the girls as bait," Louis confessed unintentionally. "I was waiting for her to wake up, but she remained dormant for so long that I lost hope." Leonardo realized Louis wasn't referring to Runa merely sleeping. "Please, my daughter... Where is she?" His desperation was raw, surpassing the influence of any potion. The conversation always circled back to his daughter, hope and pain flickering in his eyes as hate faded.
"She's safe," Monique assured him, retrieving her phone nonchalantly. Louis gazed up at her with hopeful eyes, but the spark slowly faded as her expression hardened.
"Let me see her. Please, I'm begging you," Louis pleaded, tugging at his chains. "I'll do anything for her."
"Maybe she doesn't want to see you," Monique retorted coldly, tapping on her phone and showing Louis a photo. "Look at what she has become. Can you still be a hunter? Can you hunt your own daughter?"
"No, no!" Louis began to gasp, tears streaming down his face. "Not my baby!" He choked on his own saliva, his anguish palpable. "You're lying!" he screamed at Monique. "That's all you do! Lie!" It seemed Louis was experiencing all the stages of grief in rapid succession.
Leonardo wondered what Monique had shown him. Had they harmed his daughter? Was she dead, or imprisoned like her father now was? The uncertainty gnawed at him, adding to the overwhelming tension in the room.
"You're pathetic." Bruce's rough voice shattered the sobbing, reminding Leo that he wasn't alone with Louis and Monique. His father had positioned himself between Leo and the witches, showing his distrust was even deeper than Leo's.
All the witches wore the same apathetic expression. Monique directed her anger at Bruce, looking tiny and fragile compared to his immense bulk. She jabbed a thin finger forcefully into his shoulder, surprising Leo with her intensity. Her clear eyes blazed with fire.
"Bruce, this one is mine. Keep out of it." She snarled in his face.
"You're antagonizing him," Bruce growled back at Monique.
Suze intervened, calmly separating the two like the eye of a storm. Her presence soothed Leo's racing heart.
"Bruce is right. We need to go back. We'll take him with us," Suze's quiet voice filled the space, even capturing Louis's attention. Wonder turned to fiery despair as Louis began convulsing, his body jerking and foam gathering at his lips.
"Shit—" Monique dropped to her knees, holding his head steady. "Suze, the antidote—"
Louis's eyes rolled back, only the whites visible.
Leo needed air.
He bolted out of the cellar, the sounds of Louis's convulsions and the arguments echoing after him until he reached the outside.
Acid burned in his throat, his body overheated, and the sun stabbed his eyes.
He struggled to breathe, doubling over and emptying his stomach into the rose bushes.
"Son," his father's hand on his back brought some calm. "Come on," his voice cut through Leo's wheezing. "Let's go home."
Leo spun around, a new wave of nausea rising. "And Runa?" he demanded.
"She's safe."
"How can she be safe with those kinds of psychos?" Leo gestured angrily at the still-open front door.
"They would never harm their own."
"How can you be so sure?"
His father handed him a handkerchief to wipe his mouth. "Because we're one of them."
He stumbled to the car, his golden hair shining in the sun, the same way Leo knew his hair did. "Are you coming?" he asked his father over his shoulder.
Leo glanced back at the house one last time, hoping for a glimpse of Runa. He quickly pulled out his phone to send a quick message before getting into the car. Ignoring his father's worried look, he leaned his overheated forehead against the cold car window. Condensation rose and blurred his view of the outside world passing by—the houses, the normal people leading their normal lives. There were no witches, no magic potions in their world.
His life was unraveling. Everything he thought about himself and his family turned out to be wrong. Everything was wrong.
His father remained quiet, increasing the volume of the radio. A cheerful pop song tried to brighten the atmosphere, but it fell flat.
They arrived home, and Leo reluctantly stepped out of the car. He had to face reality, to push aside the surreal events of the day. It wasn't about exams or tournaments or the part-time job he hadn't found yet. It was about confronting a truth he wasn't prepared for.
Resentfully, he walked up the path. His father was already at the front door, and his mother greeted them with wild gestures and light blonde hair in disarray. Leo stood in the middle of the path, lost in his thoughts. He couldn't hear what his mother was saying at first, but then it hit him. Amidst his racing thoughts about Runa, he realized something with a jolt: if something happened to Runa, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
He stopped abruptly, furrowing his brow. Why did he keep thinking about Runa? She was his friend, nothing more.
Are you sure? Whispered the voice in his mind, strangely resembling his mother.
What if she was more than a friend? What if she meant more to him than he was willing to admit?
He snapped back to his mother's concerned gaze.
"Leo, where were you?" she asked, wrapping him in a worried hug. "Are you alright?" Her fingers traced over his face, as if trying to decipher his thoughts from his expression.
"Uh... there was an emergency," he mumbled, rubbing his cheek and avoiding her gaze.
"Honey, never, ever do that again. Do you understand?" His mother's tone was stern as she pulled him inside, guiding him towards his room with the command that he was grounded—again. No more seeing the light of day.
Leo paused on the stairs when he heard the ping of a message. It was from R. His heart skipped a beat.
And then it started again, this time racing much faster.
A/N:
So...
Sorry about the torture? 😇
But anyway, thank you so much for reading!
Leo's on the verge of a major realization, and we're all waiting with bated breath to see if he'll piece it together. I hope I'm not torturing you all too much! Drop one of my beloved stars 💫and share your theories—are they still on track, or is the story taking unexpected turns?
Next week, get ready for more secrets, drama, and a whole lot of magic✨️.
Kisses, N💋