Payback's a Witch by Constance Barker

Author:Constance Barker [Barker, Constance]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Constance Barker
Published: 2019-03-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The deputy brought us back to the station. On the way, he explained to us that he always wondered if science-fiction was more truth than fiction. Apparently, he had been waiting for something like Alan to happen to him his entire life. I don't think he was thinking a talking bird specifically, but he'd take it. It at least explained to us why he hadn’t questioned it more. He was too excited to ask questions, which meant we didn’t have to offer much explanation.

“So, has it always been able to talk?” He asked on the way.

“Its name is Alan,” the bird replied unamused. Devon kept asking Winnie and I questions that Alan was perfectly capable of answering himself. Though he was excited about a talking bird, he couldn’t get past his own bias and hadn’t spoken directly to Alan. “I’ve always been able to speak.”

“This is just amazing,” Devon breathed out a chuckle. I could tell that he wasn’t fully sure if he was awake or not. It’d be easy to think this was all a bizarre dream.

Winnie and Alan were looking green. Car travel didn’t sit well with either of them. I found it relaxing, especially when someone else was driving. That was a rarity for me, considering when we had to travel by car usually, I was the only one who knew how to. I hoped neither of them got sick before we got to the station. Winnie drew in short breaths while Alan did the bird version of laying down.

“Can you tell us anything about the ceremony?” I asked. I had asked more than once, and Winnie had pressed a couple times already. He was just too distracted.

“We call it the ritual,” he said, the grin falling from his face. “It’s not somethin’ we ever wanted to do, you have to understand. We gotta do it to keep the town safe. Or so the council preaches.”

“So it’s a ritual that keeps the spirit of Andrew Hellman from kidnapping and killing women?” A ritual that powerful would have to include some odd ingredients.

“Somethin’ like that,” Devon nodded. “I never believed it myself, always wanted to, but never quite thought it was the case.”

“You seem pretty open-minded.” Alan groaned.

“I am.” Devon adjusted his mirror to look into the back seat. “I never saw any proof though. I believe there’s a possibility that anything can exist out there, but I won’t be sure of it till I can see it with my own eyes.”

“How was the ritual discovered or created?” I worried about this. They would not have been able to just accidentally create a ritual that would ward off a malevolent spirit like Andrew Hellman’s. It would have to be something that was created in Nikatomia, which meant I should bring it back with Hellman.

“I’m not really privy to that information.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably. He felt it was something he should be privy to, that was obvious. “Still consider me a bit of an outsider here, the council, I mean.

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