Witching Tree (Alice Gray Book 1)

5

                 
The word came out as a whisper, but she caught it alright.

Perfect blue eyes speared me with a hard look. She shook her head. A warning to keep quiet.

I pressed my lips together, a trickle of fear mixed with unease making my empty stomach gurgle and roll. Wine on top of a few lettuce leaves was not enough to prepare me for all this drama. I really hoped she hadn't brought her gun to the party.

"I didn't hurt her, you animal," Evan said to Thomas, his voice guttural.

The men were oblivious to the exchange between Emily and I. They were too caught up in their own pissing match.

Evan's fury was tangible, the air around him shimmered with energy, the bright blue of electricity.

That was weird.

But there was not time to dwell on the doubtful state of my sanity right now.

Thomas turned, dropping Evan as though he were inconsequential. He speared me with a glare so confusing that my body didn't know whether to melt or freeze. 

"Who. Was. It?"

He spoke quietly now, but that was somehow more frightening. The dark pools of his eyes were impenetrable, his face sharpened in anger.

"Has anyone called the police?" The woman interrupted addressing the room, her tone bored and patronising.

"You two check the rest of the house," she continued, looking pointedly at the men one at a time. "Make sure that the front door and all the windows are secure. Evan, you know the house inside out. Check any other entrances that the intruder could have broken in by. Alice will stay with me tonight, and then I'll call the police in the morning, when she's had chance to find out if anything has been taken. There is nothing they could do now anyway."

Without a word to me, she took my arm and started to lead me out of the apartment. I pushed her hand away.

"I'm not staying with you, you maniac. You threatened to shoot me this morning."

"If I'd wanted to shoot you, you'd be dead. You need to come with me. It's not safe here," she hissed.

"Safe?" I scoffed.

"Look, I took out those men this morning so that you could escape. That should be proof enough that you can trust me."

I looked around the trashed room. I couldn't stay here. The sour taste of defeat coated my mouth.

"Fine, but I've got to check on something first."

Thomas stood immobile in the centre of my living room staring at the floor, hands clenched by his sides. As I stepped around him, a hand shot out, causing me to stumble to a halt.

"This isn't finished, Alice."

My eyes went wide at the threat in his tone, but I just shook my head in response. I had more pressing concerns.

My bedroom was in chaos, like the rest of the apartment. Rushing to the closet I ignored my destroyed belongings. The brown papered box was where I'd left it, covered in clothes. I pulled the lid open to reveal a flash of bright silver. The leaves tinkled their sweet, mocking tune. Dread crept slowly through me, bringing with it a cold, uncomfortable wash of fear.

I couldn't explain my unease, never had understood what it was about the tree that brought such despair. I knew one thing though. It was real and it drove my need to close the box and squirrel it away, back into the depths of my closet.

"Ready?" the woman snapped from the doorway, tapping her foot impatiently.

I followed meekly, too exhausted to argue. It was a relief to be given clear instructions that were easy to follow.

So apparently this was my other new neighbour, Emily.

A post-grad student with the skills to take out two men with her bare hands. Not to mention being handy with a gun. Somehow I didn't think she was much of a party girl after all.

And what the hell did someone like that study? Bourne Identity 101?

When she handed me some of her own pyjamas I laughed out loud. A pale pink, fleecy onesie covered in white kittens. This was the nightwear style of the woman who had pointed a gun to my head this morning?

The laugh died quickly in my throat.

"Were you following me?" I asked quietly.

"No, I was there for those animals."

"Right...," my voice trailed off as my mind scrambled for some way to reply.

She held my gaze searchingly for a few seconds. When it was obvious that my addled brain was not going to come up with a response, she pointed out the door to the bathroom, and then went to bed.

The room was warm, and my body sank comfortably into the mattress. My exhausted mind refused to work through the events of the day. Sleep overtook me.