Knot
Foul breath pulsed through the corridors, accompanied by the thudding of feet. The lizard-like head cocked from side to side, searching me. I knew how to pick them and piss them off. You could call it my specialty.
I pushed my back against the little wall below the window, watching the row of school desks arranged in neat order. I followed the beast’s movements through the windows, shining into the darkened world outside. The reflection was as terrifying as the real thing. I fought against the shivers taking me over. Once they settled, there was no telling how the outcome would go.
I had done this so many times. Part of me knew I should be messing with the occult, tempting my fate, but the lizard demon and its kind were still there with or without me. So, if I and my messing with the occult kept my little town safe from the big bad great beyond, then I would keep poking my finger into things that didn’t belong to me.
You might ask how I ended up here. There’s a sound explanation, in a way. It started with a book and a light-hearted wish to play witch, only to find out magic was real and I came from a long line of witches.
The beast let out a roar. I wanted to shit my pants, but kept control over my guts.
I had tried to recruit a coven, and here we were, the beast being the outcome of that. How was I supposed to know that the one person I connected with turned out to be a demon incarnated here to hunt down witches like me?
Lexie, or the lizard-beast-slash-demon, pushed her claws against the window, and our eyes met in the window’s reflection.
“Fuck,” I said, and plummeted through the classroom toward the closet at the back as Lexie came flying into the room.
She let out a gurgle, calling me all sorts of names in Latin.
I cursed back at her. My curses lifted miniature creatures from the floor, attacking the lizard’s legs, trying to slow her down. Lexie sent them flying off easily against the little window showing the hallway.
I tried to shake the closet door open, but Mr. Illes had locked it before leaving work.
I spun around and found myself pinned between the door and Lexie.
She laughed, if you could call it a laugh. It was more of a gurgle coming out of an alligator’s mouth.
I lifted my hand and called down the forces of Mother Nature to seize the demon. I believed in nature and the cosmos, and all sorts of things. There had to be a god of some sort. It was only logical, with a world full of demons, ghosts, and other creatures I had yet to find a name for.
“Little bitch. Neither your mother nor your father will save you. I eat witches like you for breakfast.” Lexie rattled the row of skulls on her hips. There were quite a few.
If I were in a mood for fear, the gesture would have gotten me, but she had called me a bitch, and I didn’t let anyone do that.
“Maybe not Mother Nature, but this will.” I dragged my shirt down, showing the witch’s knot tattoo I had gotten unknown to my parents. The inscriptions around the knot seared hot as soon as Lexie’s gaze trapped on them.
She froze in her place, and I could push away from the door and walk past Lexie, whose eyebrows, if you could call the scales above her eye sockets as one, twitched.
“We will meet again. I think you can only take your true form when the Hunter’s moon shines. Until then, Lexie.” I walked out of the classroom, and once I was in the hallway, I ran like the dogs of Hell were behind me. The witch’s knot would only keep Lexie stunned for a few minutes, and before that, I had to get out of the school and into a sacred place she couldn’t enter.
—
Oh, I had fun with this one. Writing is magical. You sit in front of your computer and keyboard with no clue what you are going to write, and then something like this happens—a story is created. I could even stick to the parameters I got today: a lyrical fantasy of overcoming a monster written in the first person. I tried to pause with the scenes as I wrote, prolonging the hallway scene. If this were a book, I could stretch it even longer, playing with the dread and information.
And I succeeded in making this less about death and dying, and more about the spooky for the spooky season. Okay, the death theme always lurks behind every story in a way. I enjoyed writing the action scene. I wish I could have given you a better ending: our protagonist vanquishing the demon, but it felt like they weren’t ready for that. In my head, there will be a coven and a lot of learning; also, Lexie will be banished back into Hell.
Thank you for reading! Have a creative day and see you tomorrow ❤
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