Malefica

Chapter 5

Short and quick little chapter

xoxo Jess

____

My heart was racing and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was confused and I was scared.

The last time I had heard of the Circle was in the early eighteen hundreds. How were they still around when they should all be dead?

"Don't move," I warned Jason quite aggressively.

I stood back and waited for what felt like a lifetime as I tried to come up with a logical explanation for everything. I had to see his mark again, maybe it was just a tattoo and he was a creep that was obsessed with them.

"Please be a creep," I whispered under my breath as I took a hesitant step closer to him.

"What?" Jason asked, not hearing me clearly.

"Don't move," I repeated as I quickly stepped back even further, my hand raised in front of me.

He furrowed his eyebrows together before nodding slowly and lifting his hands up in peace.

When I was sure that he wasn't going to move again I walked closer towards him, leaving only a foot of space between us.

My hand shook as I reached towards the hem of Jason's shirt. Grabbing the blue fabric near his hip I began to lift it up towards his chest, hoping and praying to every deity I knew of that it was just a tattoo.

It wasn't a tattoo.

My mouth went dry and I almost choked from the quick intake of breathe that my body involuntarily took.

Why couldn't it be a tattoo?

I couldn't stop staring at it, the stupid, ugly, horrifying mark that all members of The Circle had branded just above their hip, a convenient place to hide centuries ago.

Jason's was exactly like those I had seen in the eighteen hundreds. It was two snakes, both eating their own tails. They were so intertwined with each other, looking like one long body with two heads, there was no beginning and there was no end.

That symbol used to represent something good, but over time, The Circle became corrupt and tainted it.

I looked up at Jason who had been patiently and curiously watching me the entire time.

"How?" I asked him as I looked back down at the symbol his skin had been burned with.

"You know about them?" he finally asked back.

Fuck. "I've uh... I've read a bit about them. I thought they were-" I struggled to find the right words. "I thought they didn't exist anymore."

Jason nodded slowly, lifting his shirt up and pressing it against his still bleeding lip.

"Massacred you mean?" he corrected.

"I don't know, that's just what I've read," I lied, not wanting to let on exactly how extensive my knowledge of the circle was. "You kill people," I pointed out with a frown. "That's not an idea that deserves to live on."

"What you've read about us is wrong, we-" I lifted a hand to cut him off.

"The Circle used to help people, Jason. I know that, but you're group is evil, it's concerned with nothing but death."

"Those books you're reading are wrong," he shook his head. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know enough," I whispered with a pain filled sigh as I flicked my wrists up into the air. "Dedisco," I shouted as I focused my energy onto Jason.

As soon as the word had slipped from my mouth he collapsed onto the floor, his head just missing the corner of my counter.

Now that I knew what he was a part of, I was more cautious with my magic. I quickly went to my hidden basement and worked on a concoction that further strengthened the memory spell I had cast. I was leaving no chance of him remembering ever meeting me after this.

There was no way that I was risking being found out by The Circle.

See, The Circle used to be adored and respected by witches. They were a group of Alchemists secretly funded by Noble society that embraced spirituality and magic, a concept that at the time would result in you and your family being killed. They sought balance and peace in the world and used the knowledge they gained from us witches as well as the science they discovered to achieve their goals. I remember when they first created the Philosopher's stone, an enchanted rock that could turn things into gold. I'll always remember how many people The Circle had helped, turning the cheap jewelry and cutlery of those in need into gold, providing them with better lives. Eventually they didn't need the help of the rich anymore and that's when the Circle changed.

Their leaders were twisted, greedy and just plain evil, a fact they had hid for years. Their symbol soon morphed into something that represented destruction and filled everyone in the supernatural world with fear. Anyone branded with the Ouroboros was evil, not a single part of me doubted that.

I shook my head in disgust just as the concoction that I was mixing began to boil. I blew out the flame from under it and poured the clear liquid into a glass cup before going back up to my shop floor where Jason was lying unconscious.

I sat on the floor next to him and tried my best to pull him up so that he was leaning against the counter. His head fell to the side quickly and make a loud cracking noise.

I scrunched up my face, knowing that he'd have a sore neck the next day.

"How did you get involved with The Circle?" I muttered to myself as I took a good long look at the handsom man in front of me.

His honey blonde hair was swept across his forehead, touching his long eyelashes. His lip was covered in dry blood and he was slightly drooling, a trail of saliva flowing down his chin.

"Man, I am being so creepy right now..." I quickly grabbed the cup of clear liquid from beside me and poured it slowly into Jason's mouth. "Here's to you never remembering me," I toasted, setting the now empty glass back onto the floor.

I had used it to ensure that Jason would have no memory of what had really happened today. I knew that if I wiped his memories completely, there would be a higher chance of raising suspicions from a Circle member.

Instead, I decided to replace his memories so that he thought he went out drinking, blacked out, and stole the things that he needed from my shop. That way, when I put the ingredients into his pocket and if he ever saw me again, he wouldn't be suspicious.

Settling on that idea, I read a quick spell that I made up to go with the concoction, sealing the spell in place.

"I'll even heal you because I'm not an asshole like your Circle buddies," I said to his still unconscious body.

I covered his busted lip with my hand, using my magic to heal it up in seconds. The ability to heal others was a perk of being powerful like me. Healing people usually required the transfer of energy and health. If you wanted to heal someone, magically speaking, you'd be temporarily giving them some of your health. If any other Witch tried to heal even a minor cut like Jason's lip, they would be weak for a few days. With me however, something that small had no effect. I mean, I couldn't die anyway, what was the worst that could happen?

"You're welcome," I said to myself as I got back up.

Now all that was left to do was get rid of his body.

That sounded bad... he was still alive.

Crouching back down for what felt like the hundredth time, I reached into the back pocket of his tailored navy blue pants until I grabbed his wallet. I flipped through the numerous cards that were in there until I found his driver's license which had his address.

"Jason Wellington Ainsworth?" I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, let's get you home, Wellie."